Yet More SemiParallel Lives, The Great Race
by regertz
Summary: -The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further -Into the body of a young Physics student in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble dealing with Angel's counterpart...
1. Chapter 1

**The Great Race**

Note: For Jack Lemmon...And my beloved Lynne Thigpen...Who've made a great Madeleine...

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part I

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural  
recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an  
alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So  
Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's  
another...

(The usual disclaimers as to character ownership)

"Great Race 1906"...Part I

It had to be done under the strictest secrecy...

Buffy though still weak, was determined to restore Buffy Rebecca as quickly as  
possible...And she wanted it to be a surprise for her "brother-in-law"...who was  
conscientiously performing Slayer patrol in her place, following her recent brush  
with death and vampirism...

Who had no idea that she with Willow's help had retained Buffy Rebecca's  
memories throughout the modified Wolfram-Hart resurrection ceremony that had  
restored her...Ready to go into a new neural recording and pull Buffy Rebecca's  
soul back into her robot body...

So it had to be done at night...

With help from Spike's partner in cybernetics, Warren the robotmaker, creator of  
April and the unique artificial human brain that made Buffy Rebecca a true  
soul...The one potential Buffy in the universe who could provide Spike with  
salvation...

And Tara...Who had assisted Warren in reviving Buffy Rebecca's body with the  
old  
April brain so that the Greatest Slayer of All Time could help in the fight against  
Darla and Wolfram-Hart...And be ready for BR's return...

They were sure it would work...BR's soul waited merely for the call of her  
memories to return...

They just needed to separate the neural patterns of the two twins...human from  
robot...

Buffy reached the lab where a deactivated Buffy-April waited with the new brain  
ready...

She was glad to have missed poor BA's deactivation...Not that it hurt...Or  
amounted  
to more than shutting down a computer...Still...to see an exact copy of one's own  
body...No, she was glad to have missed it...

Willow who had just come, was also glad...And let Warren know she preferred not  
to see any more robots...

He agreed...One daughter a year younger than himself would be quite enough...

They got Buffy prepped and ready...She wasn't worried...She'd done this twice  
already...Once involuntarily, once voluntarily...

Besides...she was a little anxious to distance herself from BR's own memories...Of  
Spike, of their brief life together, of Buffy's deep unhappiness and rage at her  
creation...And the pain after her battle with the Goddess of Glory and Victory...

Not that they weren't some beautiful memories...But they were a little  
confusing...And she was a little...vulnerable...right now...

Spike had been so...during those days...

And so amazingly content with the little he gotten...She could never have  
believed...

And they'd had so much...In so short a time...In a crypt, no less...

But of course that was Buffy Rebecca...Not her...She was waiting and hoping for  
Riley's return...

It would not do to fall in love with William Walthrop before her sister was  
restored...

Warren ran her through the procedure...Pretty dull actually...It was basically just a  
set of headphones...That scan your brain from front to back...

Fortunately she could read or watch TV during it...But as it was so important to do  
it properly and as she wanted so much to keep it a secret from Spike...They would  
do it here and not at home...

Dawn had desperately wanted to come...But she had just recovered herself from  
Darla's little party and Buffy had refused point blank...But Dawn would be the first  
to be told when BR was revived...And they would reintroduce Spike and BR at the  
Summers'...

Mom would have liked that...

***  
She grins at Warren...He loves this, I just know it...After all the trouble I gave him  
over BR...And here I am moving heaven and earth to get her back...for Spike...

And for me...And Dawn...

We need her too...

It happened just after half an hour...Willow had gone to get something for Buffy to  
drink...

Tara and Warren were studying the data stream from the recorder...

They were so involved they didn't notice that a thunderstorm had begun outside...

Buffy was deep in her history book...She had a ton of work to catch up on...And a  
brief spell of death was not likely to work as an excuse...

***  
Lightening struck the lab...And knocked out the power...And caused a slight  
outage  
in the neural recorder...

Buffy passed out...

Theme from "The Great Race..." "The Sweetheart Tree"...  
Music by Henry Mancini, Lyrics by Johnny Mercer  
They say there's a tree in the forest,  
A tree that will give you a sign;  
Come along with me, to the Sweetheart Tree,  
Come and carve your name next to mine.  
They say if you kiss the right sweetheart,  
The one you've been waiting for,  
Big blossoms of white will burst into sight  
And your love will be true evermore.  
Play theme song (the Sweetheart Tree)

"I can't agree with you Millicent..." Angel LeGrand was telling Millicent  
Fate...First female Physics doctoral student at Princeton as she suddenly passed out...  
"Millicent?...Millie..."

He looked anxiously around...If he was found alone with her...In their present state  
of undress...Expulsion from the University was a distinct possibility...Especially  
with his laissez-faire academic record...

"Angel?..." Buffy woke with a start... "What's happened...Where's  
Warren...Tara..."

The lab?...And what the hell are you doing here?...I thought you were in  
Tibet...she wondered...

And why am I only half-dressed?...Not to mention...What the heck am I  
wearing?...

He helped her to her feet...Please Millie...Up and dressed...Before anyone finds  
us...Come on you...Stupid cow...he thought...

The things I do for a better grade in Mathematics he thought...

Who the devil is "Warren"...or "Tara"?...he wondered...Good God...She didn't tell  
anyone she was coming?...He looked around nervously...Phew, no one in sight...

She must be crazed...

Well...He'd heard some women...In the throes of passion...And she'd probably  
never...Before...

At least not with an Angel LeGrand...He smiled at his reflection in a gleaming  
marble pillar near them...His teeth sparkled...

She was getting up...Thank heaven...And seemed a hair less hysterical...

Buffy stood up...She felt strange...And God did Angel look strange...In those  
ridiculous clothes...

Like something out of one of those old Doris Day movies on TV... "Moonlight  
Bay" or something like that...Was that a straw hat he was wearing?...And that coat  
beside him...

Well...Her stuff wasn't much better...Though she felt it was best to put it on...Like  
something out of Edith Wharton...And her hair was partially bunned up...Where it  
hadn't come loose...

While they were...Nah, couldn't be...While they were...She felt...Yep, it  
was...They'd been having sex...

He was looking around all over the place...Was he expecting someone?...Nope,  
seemed more like he was hiding from someone...

It did look like a somewhat public place they were in...Though obviously after  
hours...

She took a defensive position as she dressed...Until she was sure, no need to take  
chances with a possible Angelis return...Even though he seemed fairly unAngelis...

Not so very concerned with her, she couldn't help noticing...Considering she'd  
apparently just passed out and all...

Say?...She was up...Ouch...Was that?...My God it is...A corset...I'm wearing a  
corset...

"Angel?...Angel!..." she called to him...Snap out of it, please and listen, would  
you?...she thought... "Could you please tell me what the hell is up here?"

What the what?...Millie?...Pretty damned strong language there...

"Up where?..." he asked...

She shook her head impatiently...God, he is bloody stupid sometimes...

Say...Why is he down here with me?...I should be looking up at him...Nope, he's  
not sitting down...Or kneeling...My God...I'm as tall as he is...

I'm tall...Geesh...She looked at one of the gleaming pillars where she could make  
out her reflection and got closer...

I'm tall...Heck...Tall as old Angel...I...whoa...Oh no...I'm buck...Bucktoothed...Oh  
my God...Look at my chin...

I look like Eleanor Roosevelt...Not that I don't admire her...But...

Well...I have nice eyes...Are they?...Blue?...Hair's pretty good...Figure seems  
okaay...

Hard to tell in this corset...But I'm thin enough...

But I'm bucktoothed...she moaned inwardly...And my chin...

"Ummn...Millicent?..." Angel turned back to her... "If you're feeling better, I think  
I'd better escort you back to your room..."

Millicent?...What the?...

Still, back to my room sounds better than waiting here to see if he becomes  
Angelis...Or I figure out where Warren and the others went...And what the hell has  
happened to me...

I wonder if I could find a good orthodontist at this hour...

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part II

Buffy...Millicent...was following Angel...A very strange Angel...Back to...Her  
room?...Following her fainting spell...

She couldn't understand any of it...But was beginning to think maybe...Something  
had gone wrong with the neural transfer Warren and Tara had been carrying out...

This could be...Probably was...A hallucination...

Or...Maybe...Well, Warren had his crazy theory about infinite universes and  
infinite potential Buffies...Of which the soul of her robotic sister, Buffy Rebecca,  
was one...

As of course was she...

Could it be that she had "traded places"?...Nah, hallucination was far more  
likely...After all, this clearly was a world well behind her own in time...

Unless this was a museum or something...And she and Angel  
were...Actors?...Historical re-enactments, maybe...

Hey, maybe these teeth are a prop...Costume...Nope...Rats...

Angel was looking at her as he walked alongside...

Strange, strange young woman...But then...Bluestockings...An odd breed...

Not that it had stopped her from accepting his advances...But then, after all...

He was...Angel LeGrand...

She decided to try to get a little more info as they walked...He seemed sane  
enough so far...

"Angel...This may seem a strange question...Well, a couple of strange questions..."

"Please..." he smiled at her...Anything to calm the hysteric down...

"Well, first things first...Are you?...Is your name?...Angel?" she looked at him, a  
little worried...

"Of course...Millie, are you feeling alright?...Perhaps I should fetch a doctor?..."

It's all that reading...Like my father used to say...Affects their little minds...he  
thought...

Their dear little minds, he corrected gallantly...

Fetch a doctor?...They make house calls?...This must be another world...she  
thought...

Still...Not a terrible idea...Once they got back...To her room...Wherever that  
was...So long as the docs here don't bloodlet or things like that...

"Ummn...Maybe that's a good idea...But also..."she stared at him... "What year is  
this?...And where are we?..."

***  
William Maximillan Walthrop...Max to friends, Engineering student, amateur  
poet, English-born, Princeton class of 1897, strolled along towards the object of  
his desire...

The off-limits quarters of the handful of Princeton women...Well...Women from  
Evelyn College allowed to study at Princeton classes...Specifically...Of one  
Millicent Fate, Physics major...

The girl he worships from afar...

A true romantic can look past a few buckteeth...Look at his young friend Franklin  
Roosevelt, Teddy's distant cousin from New York...That sweet cousin Eleanor of  
his he was so interested in...A younger image of dear Millie...

***  
There...Walthrop saw...Coming round the building...The woman of his  
dreams...The most brilliant woman...Or man, to be honest about it...he'd ever  
met...Not to mention the sweetest, of course...

Whom he'd been head over heels about since a conversation in the Princeton  
dining halls two months ago...

Well...sweetest... if you met her at the proper moment...After all...She was locked  
in a most courageous struggle against centuries of prejudice...And naturally, she was  
sometimes perhaps a little brusque...

Of necessity...

Who was that with her?...Oh, God...Not that fool LeGrand...That twit...That  
conceited moron...With his "brooding" dark air to get the ladies...  
Interested...And then that stupid flashing smile to reel them in...

She couldn't...Have fallen for that jackass?...Walthrop thought...

He must look in his mirror a hundred times a day...Flashing those damned white  
teeth at every woman he meets...

Oh, Millie...You couldn't be so foolish...

He was pleased to note to himself that it was...Almost...An unselfish thought...He  
really didn't want to see her hurt...Or made a fool of...

At least not by that fool...

***  
Buffy...Millicent...Had reached her dorm building...In Princeton's Evelyn College's  
rather limited Quarters...

Angel paused at the entrance to the building...

Do I need to invite him in?...she wondered...

"Angel...Are you coming in?..." she asked...In front of several women students and  
an older woman whose shocked faces quickly revealed to her that she'd made a  
major faux pas...

He was startled, momentarily...Coming in?...To the Womens' Quarters?...With  
people around, listening?...Though he was also, of course, pleased...

It was only natural that the poor girl would forget herself...

Angel LeGrand, after all...

"Ummn...Millie...I'm sure the ladies here can take care of you...Unless you need  
me to carry you up to your room, of course..."

He looked at the others...

"Miss Fate has had a slight accident...She collapsed on the walk path...I thought I  
should escort her home...And, if I may I'd like to fetch a doctor for her..."

The older lady, a matron, stepped forward...Mr. LeGrand was such a gentleman,  
she thought...

The rumors about him couldn't be true...

A perfect gentleman...And such dazzlingly white teeth...

***  
"Millie?..." A young dark-haired woman looked at Buffy... "Are you alright?..."

Cordy?...Cordelia?...Buffy thought...Here?...

In an 1897 university...One of...maybe twenty women...In the only womens'  
"college"...To use the term loosely...at Princeton...

"Cordy?..." she asked her...

"Are you alright?...You don't look well, Millie...What happened?..." Cordy...If it  
was Cordy?...clucked at her...

"I'm fine...Ummn...Angel...Mr. LeGrand helped me...Cordy?..." Buffy looked at  
her...

What is she doing here?...Oh, this is definitely not my universe...

"Yes, Mil?...What?...Do you want something?...You should sit down, you  
know..."

Cordy...Well at least she uses the same name...told her...

"Ms. Chase is a born nurse..." the matron smiled at her...

Ah...Nursing...Whoa...Cordy?...A nurse?...Tending to the sick?...Cordelia  
Chase?...

She decided to take the future nurse's advice and sat down in the nearest chair...

"Well..." Cordelia smiled at her... "You've set your cap at Mr. LeGrand, I see..."

"Ambitious, aren't we?...So much for the All-for-My-Studies Miss Fate..."

Fate...My last name is Fate?...Hmmn...

"He just brought me home, Cordy..."

"Certainly..." Cordy smiled at her... "And met you at the library...And spent most  
of the evening with you..."

And had sex with me...Buffy did not add...

Somehow, though...I would have thought I'd be more happy about Angel being  
able to have normal sex with me...And about him being human...she thought...

But somehow...His heart just didn't seem to be in it...Far as I could tell from when  
I came in...

"Maybe I should get up to my room and lie down..." she told them...

Now...All I have to do is find out from them where my room is...

Walthrop, pacing stealthily outside, considered his options...

He could inquire politely as to Miss Fate's condition...He'd  
heard...Somehow...About her accident and...

And how had he learned of that?...Ummn...

Following her by night did not sound like an explanation that would do well...

Well...He was just passing by...And wanted to see if Miss Fate was well and leave  
his compliments...

Yes...That would work...Perhaps though he should wait just a bit...Come in just as  
the doctor LeGrand was supposed to be summoning came in...

Leaving plenty of scope for conversation...Especially for an amateur poet...

Perfect...He took up his position in the bushes...

Funny...Somehow...Prowling around after Miss Fate in the night seemed very  
natural to him...

As Mr. LeGrand was getting a doctor for her, the others persuaded  
Millicent...Buffy...to wait downstairs in the parlor...

Odd...Buffy thought...She was beginning...To remember...Things...About this life  
as well as her own back in modern Sunnydale...

Her room, for example, was number three, second floor...

And she...Had a living...Brother?...No...Mother...Yeah, that was it...She...er...this  
Millie person...Had a living mother...Mom?...Mommy alive?...

She struggled to remember...No luck...Only Joyce's face came to mind...In modern  
dress...

Still, maybe...

But this raised a disturbing thought...

Who was dreaming?...Hallucinating...Buffy Summers?...Or Millicent Fate?...

Angel returned half an hour later with an elderly doctor from town who treated  
Princeton faculty...Supposedly skilled in the care of young...Hysterical or  
neurotic...Women...

Who let them know he did not approve of women in university...Under any  
circumstances...

Bad for them, he muttered...Gave them foolish notions...No wonder the young  
lady was neurotic...

Book-learning addles women's brains, he told them as he examined Buffy...

Surprisingly he was quite unconcerned about delicacy in the exam...Rather blunt  
about it, actually...Ordering her around like cattle...And utterly dismissing Cordy's  
attempts to offer assistance...

"I think I just need to lie down for a bit..." Buffy told him...

The doc gave her a stern look...He would be the judge of that, young lady...

Well, at least no blood-letting, she thought..As he poked and prodded...

Angel had politely taken his leave...But would they please keep him  
informed...His card...

"Angel LeGrand..." Gold monogram...ALG on the upper corners...And an  
address...

Well, a bit much but might be useful to hang on to...

As the doctor continued his ministrations, the matron announced that Miss Fate  
had another visitor...

A Mr. Walthrop...

"Spike!...Let him in...Spike!...Is that really you?..." she cried, spying a very  
nervous Walthrop...

Spike?...Cordy and the matron wondered...Spike?...

Spike?...Walthrop wondered...Hmmn...Poor girl is at sixes-and-sevens, isn't she?...

Funny, though...It sounds almost familiar...Rather nice, actually...

"Ummn...Miss Fate...Hope you'll pardon my intrusion..."

"Oh...Spike...er William?...It's so good to see you again..." she told him, happily...

OW!...The doc poked at her...Miss Fate should know enough to keep still...

In his day...Young ladies were demure...Retiring...

Oddly, even Cordelia and the matron found the elderly doc a bit...

Perhaps...If the gossips and the foolish boy would leave them for a bit...He could  
finish his examination of Miss Fate...If they'd like to stay...Perhaps they could find  
another doctor...

The others sheepishly left them...

"Ms. Summers?..." The doctor looked at her... "It is you, isn't it?..."

Ummn...

"I think...You've met one of my other selves...I'm Benedictus, Glory's brother...At  
least...His manifestation in this universe..."

He smiled at her...

Ben?...This grumpy old doc...Is Ben?...

***  
He was indeed Benedictus...God of Mercy and Healing...Who'd taken an older  
form in past manifestations in this existence...At the request of his followers...Who  
wanted the Wisdom, Experience thing in their doctor-god...And then, when he and  
Glory had fought in 382 over her desire to destroy this and several other billion  
Earths in various universes...Well...He was stuck...

No so bad, really...He liked working with Humanity...And the elderly thing gave  
him that air of authority his younger types lacked...

And he was aware of Buffy Rebecca's triumph over his sisters' united selves in the  
Key's universe...So alls well that ends well...

Except of course...Buffy's current situation...

"How did you know it was me?...I don't look like this..."

"My existence stretches across multidimensions, Buffy..." Ben told her... "I tune  
into souls, not the external...And I sensed your presense here..."

"And can you get me back?..." she asked him, hopefully...

Ummn, well...He was, unfortunately...Powerless...More over...His coming was in  
part a little...Apology...

From the Powers That Be...Who'd made a request of him that he explain a few  
things to poor Buffy...

She was...Well...Stuck here...

Stuck?...Here?...Forever?...In this backward universe?...

Well...Only in a sense...Buffy Summers in the home universe was fine...Just  
stunned...

But...Well...Her mind had been...Sort of...Copied into a number of her  
dimensional counterparts...

And he, Benedictus...Who had extensions in every dimension...Had been asked to  
speak to those counterparts most likely to be adversely affected...

"I'm trapped here...And what about...My...Counterpart?..."

Not exactly trapped...Remember...Buffy back home is fine...Or will be soon...It's  
just...Millicent now has...A lot of Buffy in her...

"But...What do I do?...Am I Millicent Fate or Buffy Summers?..."

You're both, he told her...

"But I...Am I the Slayer?...I don't feel my strength the way I used to..."

Ummn...Well, see...

The good news is...There are no vampires or demons active in this dimension...

The bad news...

***  
"You see Buffy...er Millie...Millicent is you in this existence...And so when your  
consciousness drifted here...Your memories, etc...Wound up in her...er you..."

This multidimension existence is no piece of cake to explain, Ben thought...

"But...Look at me...I'm not Buffy Summers...But I remember my life only as  
Buffy... I don't remember...This..."

Well...Not exactly true, she thought...She had started to remember...Millie's life  
here...

"You have been starting to remember a bit, haven't you?..." he asked her...

She nodded...Maybe a few bits and pieces, she told him...

"But...How do I deal with this?...I can't live in the nineteenth century..." Buffy was  
getting frantic...Stuck here...No rights, no Slayer powers...No movies...No TV...No  
music videos...

And Angel seems...Well...A bit of a jerk...

Of course...Spike seems pretty nice...And if there's no Buffy Rebecca here...

"Well, it's almost the twentieth...And you were living in it...As Millicent..."

"But...She's not me...I'm not her..."

"You'll remember your...her life in time...It's just that you'll..." he smiled... "Have an extra dimension to it..."

Funny doctor...Great...

And to think I nearly dated this guy...

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part III

Trapped...In 1897...

No way home...

And yet...If this elderly version of Ben is right...This is home...And I am Millicent  
Fate...Buffy thought...

Millie to her friends...

I just happen to have the memories of a woman from over 100 years in the  
future...Well, her universe's future...In me...

On the one hand...I apparently have a living Mom...And I am the first woman  
admitted to the Princeton graduate Physics department...Ever...

Not too shabby...

And at least some of my...er Buffy's...friends are here...If rather different...

On the other hand...I'm in the nineteenth century...Women can't vote, are treated  
like idiot children, wear corsets...

And I look like Eleanor Roosevelt...

Again, it's not that I don't admire Mrs. Roosevelt...It's just...Why do I have to look  
like her?...

Say...She...If she is in this universe...Ought to be just a bit younger than I  
am...Hmmn...We could get to be chums...Yeah...

The weak-chinned, buck-toothed tall girls sorority...Well...

Looks aren't everything...And I'm not that bad-looking...Hey, Eleanor gets  
Franklin...

And Angel...Well, this Angel...Human, to boot...Had sex with me  
anyway...Though that was strange...

He doesn't seem all that interested in me...Took off before the doc...Ben...looked  
me over...

Oh...Gee...Wait a minute...Spike...Or whoever he is...Is waiting out there in the  
other room with Cordy...

How do I know him?...Is he my boyfriend?...lover?.. Hmmn, if so...Millie has  
some explaining to do...

Or is he my devoted cousin or something?...

Concentrate...Ben said it would all come back...In time...

Thank goodness for dear old Ben...Though I wish he had a little power...To send  
me home...

Still...Well...Maybe...I am home...

"Millicent?...Are you decent yet?..." the matron called...

"Ummn...Yes, I'm fine...You can come back in..." Buffy told her...

***  
Walthrop entered with Cordelia...A bit...Nervous...Didn't wish to intrude...Just  
wanted to see how Miss Fate was getting on...

"Oh...Sp...William...It's really so kind of you to come..."

And stay...Thinking of the absent Mr. LeGrand...

Hmmn...Except for the hair...And the glasses...He's my Spike alright,  
lookswise...And human to boot...

"Miss Fate...It's so kind of you to remember me at all..." Walthrop told her...

Princeton dining hall...Yes, she remembered...He was at the dining hall...They  
were debating some issue...And she was...With Cordy...Eating dinner...And he  
said...God, what did he say?...

It was about Physics...He said something about the wave nature of  
electromagnetism...That it was?...Elegant...Yes...He said it was an elegant way to  
describe the universe...Poetic...And they were hooting him down...And he saw me  
and asked me my opinion...Yes...

He asked for my opinion...And they all looked at me...Bunch of jerks...Wanted to  
see me fall flat on my face...And I gave my opinion...Which matched his as to the  
elegance part...But I said...Ummn...No, I can't remember...

But Ben is right...It is coming back to me...I can be Millicent...And maybe...Buffy  
too...

She looked at Walthrop...Who was clearly rather interested...

He asked for my opinion...Not that I completely agreed with him...He doesn't  
really understand the full theory on particle and wave mechanics...But...He asked...And  
he really wanted it...

She blinked a moment... And grinned to herself...

I know the theory of particle and wave mechanics...Well, I think I do...Me...Buffy  
Summers who barely passed high school Physics...Well...The late nineteenth  
century opinion, anyway...

She looked at the beaming Spike...er William...Max to his friends...

Nope...He is not my devoted cousin...

This might not be all bad, this existence...

Still...What about Angel?...Mr. LeGrand...

Of course he might have at least called to see if she...

Oh, right...No real phone service for a few years yet...

Cordy provided the necessary chaperone...

"How goes your doctoral thesis, Miss Fate?..." William asked politely...

"Quite well, Mr. Walthrop..." Buffy told him...

Yeah...If I could just remember what it's about...

She wanted to tell him to call her...Buffy...Or at least Millie...But  
somehow...Millie was restraining her...Not quite the thing on so short an acquaintance...

But that sure hadn't stopped dear Millie from having sex with Angel...she noted...

***  
Mr. Walthrop ended the visit a few minutes later...Not wishing to tire Miss Fate  
unduly...

And with Cordy's strong encouragement...

Buffy requested that he come again...To check on her progress...If he wouldn't  
mind...

He nearly fell through the floor in happiness...

He likes me... Buffy-Millie thought happily...

Hah! She remembered... "Applications of Physics to the Study of Aerodynamic  
Flight"...Yeah!...Her thesis...On the possibility of powered flight...Aircraft...

And a damned good thesis too...If only she could remember the details...

She had made it to her room with Cordelia's help...It was ominously loaded with  
books...Calculus...Physics...Hmmn...How was she ever going to catch up to  
Millie?...Well...She was Millie, after all...

And, she had, as Millicent, after all, mastered them once...Hmmn...Poetry...A few  
novels, including a heavily marked copy of "Middlemarch" by George Eliot...And  
some history...And "David Copperfield" ...Her...Buffy's...And Buffy  
Rebecca's...Favorite...

So...She and Millie did have a connection...

Some photos...Miniatures...Mom...Whoa...It was Mom...Joyce in nineteenth  
century costume...Maybe a few pounds heavier, but Joyce all the same...And she's  
alive...Name...Name...What the heck is my mother's name?...Nope...Have to just  
let it come...

Willow!...Yea!...There she is...Is she here at Princeton, too?...No...Nope,  
she's...Married...Married?...To...Whoa...Alexander Sebastian Harris, newspaper  
publisher...And owner of the New York Sentinel...

Willow is married to Xander...Well not my Willow and not my Xander,  
exactly...But still...

Only a train ride away...

Well, this existence is looking better all the time...

Hmmn...I don't suppose...That Giles could be my dad...No such luck...Still...I don't  
remember my...Millie's...dad yet...God, that would be so great...

'Course the idea of Mom and Giles...

Oh, come on...It would be great...Well...We'll see...

Now...If I could find a good orthodontist...And invent a few things...TV, rock  
music, blow-dryers...

Hey...I remember History...I could change History...

Save that what's his name...That Archduke who got killed...No World War I...Bop  
that other Austrian nut on the head before he hurts anyone...Tell Lenin Stalin is  
not just a rough kind of guy...

'Course...

If I change one thing...God knows what might happen...And this isn't my  
universe...I bop Hitler and here he's the guy who cures cancer...Nah...Not that  
jerk...Still...

I'd better see Ben again and talk with him...Maybe this is why the Powers That Be  
sent him to me...

But my Mommy's alive...Yes!...I should write her...And Willow and  
Xander...Right now...But...

Maybe hold off on mentioning the Buffy thing...

***  
She was dealing...Buffy-Millie thought happily the next morning...Dealing just  
fine...

Just a few minutes peace and it would all start coming back to her...

Rather pleasant here if you just lay back and think about it...

"Miss Fate...Are you feeling better?..." the matron knocked at her door...

"Oh...Much...Ms...er Miss...Mrs...Hen...Hen...Henricks..." Yeah...Henricks  
...The old battleaxe...

"You know that normally I would not consider holding your breakfast...But  
considering last night I have saved something for you down in the parlor...If you'd  
ever care to descend..."

I'm late?...Heck it's only eight-thirty by the clock...

Oops...Don't I have classes?...Am I supposed to be somewhere?...

Schedule...There must be a schedule...Somewhere...Ah...Nope,  
letters...Whoa...Letters from Mom...Mother...And Father...

Daddy...Here too?...And still with Mom...Wait...Bearded guy...Dapper...Learned  
scholar...Sorry Father to have so much trouble with this...My dad a scholar?...Holy  
cow!...I remember Father...He's Emperor Constantine...Well...He looks like  
him...The Emperor Constantine XXX Drages, Commander of the Knights of  
Byzantium in my...Buffy's...world...

My dad is an emperor...

Well, maybe not here...But he is a professor... Of Roman history...And a very  
sweet father...

And Mom is an art historian...Kristine by name...Well...

Not a bad little existence at that...

Ben was right...The blanks are starting to fill...But I still remember Buffy and her  
life...

What did he say...I'd have an extra dimension to my life?...

"Miss Fate!" Mrs. Henricks hollered...

"Coming..." Just find the schedule, grab my books...Whoops...Corset, corset...

No demure young lady is without one...

How the hell do you put this thing on?...

Cordy...Studying at the dorm today...Brought her up to speed...Though  
wondering...

Was poor Mil quite all there, yet?...

She had a schedule in her large notebook...Always kept it there...

Advanced Physics class at 9:30...Lab at 12:30...TA for Seminar at 5:00...

And this was her easy day...

TA...I have to TA a Physics seminar?...At 5 pm?...Whoa...Ah, phew...

The professor only lets me grade papers and clean the boards...That sort of thing...

Thank God for sexism...Well, to be fair...The professors don't allow the males  
much leeway either...

Also she had to turn in her preliminary thesis today...By 1 pm...Sharp...

Where...Hmmn...Think...Ah, the printer's...Natch...No word processor's, etc...You  
have to send it into the printer's in advance...Phew...

Quick stop on the way to class...Wherever class was...And...

Walthrop decided to take the great risk of calling on Miss Fate that morning...

True it might seem a little forward, a little unseemly...But she had had an  
accident...And most of all...

She'd asked him to call...

She was very pleased to see him...Despite Matron Henricks' disapproval of  
forward young men...Especially as he seemed to know where the Physics Department  
buildings were...As well as the university printer's office...

And was happy to escort her...

"I've told you, Miss for the fifth time...Mr. LeGrand picked it up for you...  
" the printer's assistant told her...For the fifth time...

Walthrop was feeling a mite discouraged beside her...Back to LeGrand again...

Well, he'd have to speak to her about him...Let her know his reservations even if it  
angered her...

Once again, he was rather pleased to find himself having a more or less unselfish  
thought on the matter...

Angel "picked up" my preliminary doctoral thesis?...Did I ask him to?...  
I think...I mentioned it was at the printer's...

He was looking for help in Math, wasn't he?...Yeah...I remember...He wanted help  
on his BA thesis...He's been a year late in getting it in...And what with starting at  
Princeton so late...He's been getting embarrassed...His father expects him to  
graduate...Finally...This year...

In fact though, from what he told me...His "thesis" was a piece of ...

She turned to Walthrop...

"William...Do you happen to know Mr. LeGrand?...From last night?..."

The assistant chuckled at that...Who doesn't know "the great Angel" at  
Princeton?...Especially...The ladies...

Walthrop glumly nodded...What...Does she want directions to his rooms now?...

"I need to speak with him...As soon as possible..." she told him...Rather grimly...

Hmmn...Very frightening when she sets her face like that...I wonder...Could it  
be?...LeGrand?...

A cad of a thief?...he thought happily...Still one must not denounce a fellow  
Princetonian without evidence...

"Miss Fate, you don't think...LeGrand took your thesis?...With ill intent?..."

"Don't know, Spike...er Will..." He didn't seem to use "Spike" though I get the  
feeling he likes it...

"Call me Max, if you'd care to, Miss Fate...All my friends do..."

"Max, eh..." she grinned at him for a moment...

A ray of sun on the benighted...Then she turned to the grimmer issue...Mr.  
LeGrand...

The cad...The worthless scoundrel...The...Well, not to mince words...the &#$*...If  
a  
gentleman may use such words...In his mind at least...

Not a gentleman...Walthrop noted solemnly...Beyond the pale...

"That $%&*ing piece of #$%* crappy little #$%&!" Buffy-Millie hollered...

Walthrop looked at her...Shocking perhaps but certainly...Well put...

As they read the notice that Mr. Angel LeGrand, class of '97 would be presenting  
his thesis on Principles of Aerodynamic Flight...On Thursday next...

He stole it...He stole my doctoral thesis...Angel...Stole my doctoral thesis.. she  
thought in shock... "Screwed me...Literally...And stole my doctoral thesis..." she  
muttered, still in shock, to Walthrop...

Well...He wasn't her Angel, after all...

Spike...William...Max?...looked on sympathetically...But wondered about this  
"screwing" thing...

Wait half a mo...She didn't mean?...The way the lower sort of man discussed...

Relations...

No...Millicent?...Ridiculous...Just some odd bit of slang, that's all...

"We'll complain to the board of trustees...He won't get away with this, Millie..."

She looked at him...So sweet yet strong, so cute yet sexy...so Spike...So...

Short...

Well, I must be...Big...About this...She down at the little fellow...My God, he's  
Dreg to my Glory...Sizewise...

Can't help it...I've got to get some pleasure out of this and being tall is the only  
halfway decent thing to come my way so far in this freaking crazy universe...

But it's sweet of him to want to help...So like my...er, Buffy Rebecca's...William...

Post-redemption, anyway...

Well...I guess in this world...Or hallucination...It's ok to call him my William...I  
have BR's memories after all...

"William, thank you...For wanting to help..." she smiled at him, lighting up her  
slightly blotched and tear-swollen face...

She's really so beautiful when she smiles, he thought...Even the teeth look great...

Hmmn...Those BR memories were sure nice memories...I wonder...she thought...Is  
he as nice as the human side of the William I know?...

I couldn't bear it if he's a creep too...

***  
Stolen her thesis?...He, Angel LeGrand?...Really, Miss Fate...

She, with Walthrop beside her, had confronted him outside his building...

Well, somebody had taken it from the printer's...And that somebody...Was Angel  
LeGrand...

Well, of course...He had picked up her little packet...As a favor, knowing she'd be  
indisposed...And concerned about it...

But to accuse a gentleman of such disreputable conduct...

His thesis was his own work...He'd been pleased that she had borrowed some of  
his ideas and expanded on them...

Quite flattering, really, he noted...And he had no objections to make to the trustees  
board...

Unless of course...She intended to pursue these ridiculous accusations...

Walthrop made a gallant gentleman's try...Calling LeGrand out...

LeGrand...And a few of his devoted chums...Noted that he did not engage in  
fighting midgets...

As for the lady...Here was her little packet...He regretted having ever shown her a  
little...Kindness and sympathy...

Buffy-Millie looked at him for about ten seconds, then...

Walthrop looked on for a half-second at the astonishing sight of Millie Fate  
advancing on Angel LeGrand, clearly with murder in her heart...And joined in...

Unfortunately...Some of LeGrand's fellows were quite the street toughs...A  
gentleman of his position sometimes requires...Protection...And Buffy-Millie was  
not up to her former strength...

Was pleasant to see little Walthrop fighting beside her, she noticed as she climbed  
out of the muck LeGrand's thugs had left them in...And they were arrested for  
creating a public disturbance...

The board of trustees listened with amusement to the protests of student Millicent  
Fate regarding the actions of the well-known, wealthy, and well-connected Mr.  
LeGrand...

A gentleman, like Mr. LeGrand?...Steal a woman's doctoral  
thesis?...Preposterous...

Clearly the poor girl had found the work too difficult...Rather cheap of her to  
insult a favorite son of Princeton like this, though...

Ridiculous idea letting women into the Mathematics and Physics curriculum  
anyway...

Work of a few hair-brained academics...

A threat to the fabric of Society, really...And look at the effect on the poor  
woman's character...Lying like this...Her poor overtaxed brain seemed to actually  
believe its own lies as well...

The two radical professors from her department who came to her defense were  
easily brushed aside...Foreigners, anyway...

Radicals...With socialistic leanings, no doubt...Should never have let them slip  
onto the faculty...

Fortunately, Mr. LeGrand was a true gentleman, of noble character...And did not  
choose to press the matter...

And regarding this matter of a police arrest for the disturbance of Princetonian  
peace...

Miss Fate was quietly informed it would be best for her to depart Princeton...

Sadly, her response was not quiet...Not ladylike at all, the board shook its  
collective head...

Yes, a grave mistake to make an experiment like this...

Yet More (Semi) Parallel Lives... "Great Race, 1906"...Part IV...

Walthrop left Princeton as well in protest over the Board of Trustees' treatment of  
Miss Fate...

Despite her strenuous objections...Especially after learning that his family back in  
New England...Who had only recently transplanted from England...The same  
Amelia Sr., Amelia, and Philip Walthrop whom her Spike had described to Buffy  
Rebecca in her...Buffy's...own universe...Were not particularly wealthy...

Still she couldn't help being pleased...At least this Walthrop bore considerable  
resemblance to her own...er Buffy's...er Buffy Rebecca's own...

True blue when given his chance...Even if it was a bit unnerving to her to have  
him only come up to her shoulder...

Fortunately a small Midwestern college, run by radical types, who had actually  
endowed chairs for women...Was eager to take up her cause and accepted them  
both into its Engineering and Physics programs...

Hardly Princeton...But...

Before they left for the Midwest...Buffy-Millie decided to visit her parents...At the  
small college in western Massachusetts where they both worked...

About time she met them and saw her...Millie's...home...So, I'm an East Coaster  
here...

And she wished to visit dear Wilhelmina...Willow...and Alexander in New  
York...Who had written after hearing of her plight in sympathy, inviting her to  
stay...

Will and Xander...Married...Wow...Gosh, I hope Will's dealt with...Well...

Maybe Tara isn't in this dimension...

Of course things had to be settled with dear little Spike...Er Max...Er William...

But that was easily taken care of...If Millie was as ok with it as Buffy was...

After all, they could hardly go out to the Midwest together...Unless...

And he'd proven himself a true Walthrop...

She sensed he needed her...Maybe not as much as poor Spike/Walthrop had but...

And, well...to be honest...the need was mutual...

Millie was ok with it, Buffy-Millie decided...

At least no protests were voiced from any other part of her mind...

Knowing he'd need a little encouragement...And wishing to nail things down  
quickly...Buffy-Millie took the forthright approach...

She was a little tired of waiting for the guy...At least in her...Buffy's...universe that  
just hadn't worked out well...

Besides...She was a leetle nervous about meeting parents and friends she did not  
remember well as yet...Alone...

She got down to business when he came by to help her pack...She'd like him to go  
with her to New England and New York...Meet the parents...

Meet her parents?...Ummn...Like an escort, that sort of thing?...Walthrop  
thought...Encouraging...

Not a problem for a Victorian gentleman...Matter of fact...He could introduce her  
to his friends, the Roosevelts, in New York...Dear old Teddy was back from  
Washington for the summer...Had she heard of him?...Assistant Secretary of the  
US Navy?...Perhaps read one of his books?...Doing so well in politics right now...And  
dear Edith...And the children...

She seemed to recognize the name...

Hopefully his savings would hold out...But making the visiting rounds might  
actually save him a bit before the new college got underway...He would be  
heading for New England anyway...And she should have a companion on the trip...

And she'd like to meet Amelia Walthrop and his sibs...If ok?...

Meet my mother?...And the chicks?...Walthrop thought...Oh, a courtesy call...Such  
a thoughtful girl...

Very encouraging, he thought...Best idea I ever had was to stop by her place that  
evening...

She must be getting over the height difference...

Hmmn...Meeting the Teddy Roosevelt...Well, not quite the Teddy yet...But  
still...Neat, she thought...

Geesh...1897...There's going to be a war...Next year I think...Yeah...Should I say  
anything to Teddy... "Keep your head down, you're fated to be President"  
maybe?...Nah...Ben had recommended not playing around with history...Anyway,  
back to basics...

She looked at Walthrop...He wasn't quite getting it...Though he was definitely  
interested...

"Will...I'm not exactly the belle of the ball, you know...But if you're ok with  
that...I'm sure we'd do well together...Similar interests and all that..."

"And I know you care for me..." she looked at Walthrop who was now  
beginning to get it and trying to recover... "Naturally, same here...So..."

Rushing things perhaps...But she needed a little stability in her life...And she'd  
gotten to know him a bit better in the past two months...Definitely a Walthrop...

Ummn...Why was he so?...Silent?...Guess I should've let him make the first  
move...But I'm leaving in two days...Then we go right out to Indiana after I...Or  
we...Get back...No time...

He doesn't look all that happy...Gee...

I know, the teeth and chin...And I am so tall...Oh...Wait...Maybe...

"I love you, Will..." she told him...

Yeah that was it...

Definitely...He looks much happier...

***  
Buffy-Millie's dad had the twinkle in the eyes she remembered the Emperor as  
having had...

And the same first name...Constantine...Constantine Fate...

She wondered...Had he perhaps been holding something back from her and  
Mom...Mother...All these years?...

Imperial princess Buffy-Millicent Theodora...Well...Maybe not...

But he was a grand one all the same...Giles himself couldn't have done the father  
bit better...

And she was remembering...Papa, wonderful, sweet Papa...Teaching  
her...Encouraging her...As Mother did as well...

Maybe it was worth losing MTV...For parents like these...

But...She mustn't let herself...Forget...At least not totally...Buffy's father...

And yet...Constantine Fate was her father...Here...And always had been...

Still...She must never forget Hank Summers...She could never forget Joyce, not  
with Kristine her spitting image in 1890's dress...But she might forget Hank...If  
she wasn't careful...

And somebody has to remember him...

Her parents were loyally furious at her forced resignation from Princeton...

Professor Fate vowing to call LeGrand out himself...He'd show that young  
buffoon...Sneak thief...A thing or two...

Her mother, Kristine, very Joyce in her sensitivity to Buffy-Millie's moods,  
guessed her daughter's relationship to Mr. LeGrand might have crossed  
certain...Boundaries...

Nothing she had to be ashamed about...Kristine told her when she tearfully  
confessed to her after a few days...Perhaps though...Mother'd talk to Father about  
it at some later date...He was already quite angry enough at the young man...

She herself wouldn't mind a little target practice at the fellow herself, Kristine  
noted...

Yeah...I guess I can pass up MTV for these two...Buffy-Millie happily noted...

Her parents' anger was a bit overwhelmed by their concern at Millie's  
announcement of her betrothal to Walthrop and their plans to move to  
Indiana...And damned well complete their graduate degrees...

Walthrop was rather startled himself...He understood they had an arrangement of  
sorts between them but...

Still...The Fates considered...Walthrop seemed like a fine young man...A fine short  
young man, the Professor noted to himself...

Their Millie insisted she was genuinely in love with him...

And they did prefer her not to go alone to the Midwest...

***  
Amelia Walthrop was...To the extent Buffy-Millie remembered...Via Buffy  
Rebecca's merged memories...the image of the tattered old photograph twenty-first  
century Spike had kept...

Very Emma Thompson...And sweet...Though clearly steel-willed...And devoted to  
her oldest son's welfare...

A little intimidating, actually...Buffy was a bit surprised to find herself so  
nervous...The human Mum-in-Law...

Well, certainly an improvement on Drusilla...

She had never felt quite so self-conscious...Either as Buffy or Millie...As when  
Amelia gave her the full inspective glance...

A little tougher than she'd expected, this...

She decided to bring out what she felt was her strongest point...Her intellect...

Fortunately, she had recovered a fair portion of Millie's formidable  
knowledge...And Walthrop had told her Amelia was a strong advocate of women  
intellectuals...Though her own education had of necessity been in patches...

Unfortunately, in her nervousness, she babbled rather foolishly...Though William  
assured her she was doing fine... "Scoring well"...An expression she'd  
given him which he'd come to fancy...

The kids were no problem, fortunately...Sweethearts both, especially young  
Amelia...

Well...Now she knew...

So that's why Spike took to Dawn so quickly...And never harmed her even before  
the chip's appearance...

A little gift to her Spike from the Powers That Be...Dawn and little  
Amelia...Identical...

Phil was a neat kid as well...Practical bent of mind...But with a refreshing degree  
of respect for her intellect...Must be from exposure to his Mum...He enjoyed  
discussing science with her, especially the race to build a powered aircraft...

Will had told him of her work on the problem...Was she going to try it herself?...

Well...Maybe someday...First she had to finish her doctoral work...Then, financial  
backing...

Well...He reflected...That was easily addressed...Marry Will...He'll make some  
money for you and I'll help you build the craft...

Deal...She told him...Practical kind of a kid...But very sweet...

Will...Max...Took on the task of informing his mother of their plans...

She'd rather guessed it...Adoring letters from him regarding Millie for the past four  
months had primed her...And it only took a moment to see he was set on her...

She was however a trifle concerned about Miss Fate's heart...Their marriage was  
convenient for her, and to be fair, for him...But...She wondered if the girl had her  
heart in it...

Her Will craved affection...And as a good Mum, she felt he was entitled to it...And  
Millie, clever as she was, and hopefully, capable...Seemed a little...Cold...

She had to be honest she told Buffy-Millie in their private conversation...

Cold...I seem cold?...Buffy-Millie thought...Me?...Buffy Summers?...Cold?...

She might think differently if she had seen us together two weeks ago...Max had  
been quite startled by her...Skill...And pleased...

I even let him call me Buffy...And called him Spike...Among other things...

So we have bedroom nicknames now...Just between us...Is that cold?...

Still, she's talking about feeling and heart...The important things...Not a little  
sexual heat...

This was disturbing...She respected Amelia's perception...Was this what Riley had  
sensed?...

"It's been a rough six months for me, it's true...But I love Will and I will try to  
make him as happy as I can..." she told Amelia...

She hoped so...Amelia told her...

Yet More (Semi) Parallel Lives... "Great Race, 1906"...Part V...

Neither family being especially wealthy...Mrs. Walthrop a "widow" of sorts...  
With a small inherited income...

Buffy soon realizing it was best not to delve too deeply into Mr. Walthrop's state...

And the Fates, poorly recompensed college teachers...

But especially with the breath of the Princeton-LeGrand scandal hovering over  
them...

Buffy-Millie and William chose to keep their wedding preparations to a bare  
minimum...

Which irritated one Wilhelmina Harris...Willow to her friends...Wife of the owner  
of the New York Sentinel...New York's favorite newspaper...

Millie's and now Buffy-Millie's long-time best friend...

And a young lady not unused...To "scandal"...

After all, a short, red-haired, fiery-tempered, intelligent...Jewess...Marrying into  
one of New York's wealthiest families...

Buffy was pleased to see that Xander must still be preety Xander...To deal with the  
kind of ruckus this sort of thing had raised...

All for the love of his Willow...That's my Xander Harris, she thought...Despite any  
minor differences...

And she was rather happy to learn that her family...Not to mention Walthrop...Had  
no..."problems" with Willow...

In fact she was rather relieved to remember that Millie had been best friends with  
Willow forever...

After all...Late nineteenth century...

Buffy did not want to find out that her new self was a fire-breathing racist under a  
thin veneer of culture...Especially as she was as much Millie as she was Buffy...

But Willow was clearly annoyed with her Millie's attitude...

The plighted couple were visiting the Harrises in New York...

"You two don't have to hide under a bushel basket, Millie..." Willow told her...

"Do they, Alex..." Clearly not a question...

The young newspaper publisher agreed whole-heartedly...And did, in this case,  
despite his somewhat more well developed sense of propriety...

He'd learned it was best to concede the field to Willow at home...

A woman as passionate in her angers and hates as in her devoted love of her  
husband, two children, and extended family...

She...With Alex's enthusiastic...Well, migitated by his slight concern over the  
proprieties...support...Insisted on giving them an engagement party...

To which she invited many of New York's notables...Including Walthrop's old  
friend, Theodore Roosevelt...His young distant cousin Franklin and niece  
Eleanor...Several literary luminaries...The famed proponent of powered  
flight...Who had thought quite highly of dear Millie's theoretical  
work, Octave Chanute...And...Quite pointedly...Mr. Angel LeGrand...

***  
Angel...Willow invited Angel...Buffy-Millie thought, horror-struck...

What was she thinking?...

"Will, what are you thinking?...Inviting LeGrand?..." she asked her...

"I want to see the look on his face when he sees who the party is for..." Willow  
grinned at her...

She didn't tell him who the party was for?...

"I told him an old friend of mine was getting hitched...He thinks he's doing us a  
great courtesy by coming...To the little Jewish girl's ball..." Willow noted...

What a guy...And something that New York's growing Jewish community was  
sure to remember...Should he perhaps ever wish to enter politics at some future date...

Buffy was a little distressed to see that some of New York's finest turned Willow's  
invite down...Very politely...

Not for her sake...But...Damned prejudiced jerks...

Well, better times are coming...In a few decades, anyway...

Somehow though...It was embarassing...Not for Willow...But to see people she'd  
read about, admired...Acting like...

God, she couldn't believe it...Eleanor Roosevelt declining a Jewish woman's  
invitation...

Well, at least Teddy and Franklin were coming...And maybe it was Eleanor's  
family who had refused to let her go...

"Oh, it's all right..." Willow assured her... "Most of the others are only coming for  
fear of what Alex will print about them if they don't..." She grinned wickedly at  
Buffy-Millie...

"He's a good husband, my Alex..."

And a man of principle...It went without saying, of course...she rushed to add  
loyally...

Walthrop was rather pleased at the thought of confronting the sniveling thief  
without his street toughs...The thought of ripping LeGrand's throat out somehow  
seemed very appealing...

A pleased Buffy-Millie won his promise of good behavior...

Teddy was a delight...She found herself quite captivated by him...

Far more intelligent and charming...Sensitive...Than she'd ever imagined from  
years of watching actor Teddies crying "Bully, bully" and waving a big stick on TV...

Nothing like meeting them in the flesh, she thought...

She was very pleased to find he had great respect and liking for William...Who'd  
been out West with him several times...And had been a good friend to him in  
Europe where mutual friends had introduced them while Teddy was dealing with  
the sad case of his dear brother, Elliot...Eleanor's father...

Her pleasure was enhanced by his strongly expressed opinion on Princeton's  
behavior towards her...And his equally strongly expressed opinion of a certain  
fellow guest...

Mr. LeGrand was quite the wallflower at this affair...And chose to leave rather  
early...

To both William's and Theodore's disappointment...

And Buffy-Millie's...To see Angel facing a thrashing by William...And Teddy  
Roosevelt...

Not a bad prospect...Much as she'd prefer to do it herself...

Sadly for him, young Franklin Roosevelt was left to face the remnants of  
Buffy-Millie's annoyance...

"She doesn't seem to like me very much..." he noted to the charming Mrs.  
Harris...Which surprised him...

Everyone liked him...And she reminded him so much of his dear cousin Eleanor...

You're lucky Eleanor didn't show up tonight...You...Angel...Buffy-Millie thought,  
looking at the somewhat puzzled and crestfallen young man...

I might have given out a little future history...About a certain Lucy Mercer...

Well...Maybe I'm being a little harsh...Different universe, after all...

She looked at dear little William...

Max...You won't let me down, will you?...she thought...

Well, if Buffy Rebecca can put her trust in the human half of his vampire  
counterpart...

The years following were a mixed blessing to Millicent...er Buffy...

She and Walthrop were successful in completing their graduate degrees at the  
small college in Indiana...Hers, a doctorate in Physics...His, a masters in  
Engineering...

Although Buffy-Millie was not able to reinvent the twenty-first century...At the  
dawn of the twentieth...

She was able to make use of her Buffy memories in a profitable way...

By recreating small but highly useful items she remembered reasonably well from  
everyday use...

Like, for example, an amazing mechanical tool for opening cans easily...

Which her husband the young engineer-poet translated into workable  
gadgets...Whose initial success soon persuaded them to risk their modest savings  
in...A small factory...Which within two years had become a rather large one...

The Fate-Walthrop Company...And Spike...er Max...surprised himself by turning  
out to have superb mangerial and sales ability...

Which in fact did not particularly surprise his wife...

She was pleased to work with him as a partner...With most of the designing end in  
her care...

And sincerely joyed in having two children with him over the next three  
years...Although she made a point of introducing him to the wonders of birth  
control afterwards...

While no intention of giving up the pleasures of her Max's company...No great  
desire to die young in endless childbirths, thank you...

But there were...Problems...

She was terribly frustrated in her career goals...There seemed no chance to do real,  
creative work...Despite her husband's enthusiastic support...Both emotional and  
practical...

Going down as the inventor of the can opener and a few household nick-nacks was  
not what she...Millie...Had dreamed of when she went into Physics...

Besides...These weren't her ideas...They were just the dregs of her...Buffy's...  
Memories of the past...er future...

She wanted to make her own discoveries...Or at least, do or create something  
unique...

As long as Slaying was out of the question...

And what made it far more irritating...Was Angel's success...In the full glare of a  
soon devoted public spotlight...

It was an age suited to an Angel...New technology was available allowing a man to  
travel faster and farther...In any medium...On land, in water...Even...The air...And  
it needed to be tested...

By a handful of daring, courageous heroes...Who instantly became world-wide  
stars...The medium of publicity having likewise reached a new peak...  
Instantaneous transmission of events...by telegraph...telephone...Even wireless...

And of all these heroes, one stood out, head above the rest...

The gallant, courageous, noble, handsome, independently wealthy...Dazzlingly  
white-toothed...

Angel LeGrand...The Great Angel...As his adoring public chose to label him...

With a little persuasion from his publicity men...

Arrgh...

And there was...Poor Max...

She loved him dearly...But...While he had no doubt of her affection...

She could be difficult at times...Her frustration...With a relatively primitive  
existence...With the failure of her dreams...Sometimes fell on him...

Much to her shame...And constantly repeated, deep, deep regret...

She realized she took him much too much for granted...

It made him wonder a bit...About her inmost feelings...

He was...Uncertain at times...Of her true love...

This crazed obsession with Angel...

She did her best to reassure him...That he was the one dearest to her heart...

He was...Really...

She went so far as to tell him of Buffy and her world...To help explain her  
frustrations and her occasional strange behavior...Knowing he might think...

Could she offer greater proof that he was the love of her life?...

Oddly enough he accepted her tales...Somehow, he felt...It explained a great  
deal...And some of it...Well...

Sounded familiar...

Yes, he could believe there might be other universes...Other dimensions...

Where dwelt alternate forms of Millicent...er Buffy...And himself...

And a Mr. Wells had just written a fascinating novel about a man traveling in  
time...

But...The old issue came back to haunt her...Even in her greatest expression of her  
trust...

"So...You say you knew...A version of Angel...In this other existence?..."

Ummn...Well...Barely...He was a much better person...Though he was a vampire...

Like your counterpart...

"And he left you to me there as well, eh..."

"Hardly, honey...Left is not the right word by a long shot..."

Ah...So...What did happen to him...

"He...was..."

"He turned evil...And I had to kill him..." she told him brightly...

A white lie...For the sake of a happy marriage...And my beloved husband's  
self-respect...

"So you killed him...And my counterpart got a chance to take his place..."

No...Not like that, see...

Your counterpart was very noble...After he fought off his curse and all...My robot  
sister came to help him redeem himself and...

"My counterpart wound up with...Your robot sister..."

I see...Walthrop said quietly...

It was very romantic...she told him...I fell in love with him too...After our minds  
were merged...

Ummn...

Probably before...she told him...I just didn't realize it...

I see...Max told her...

Angel no doubt blocked me from your view...

"I love you, Will..." she told him...Looking so glum and ashamed...

Couldn't he understand?...This thing with LeGrand...Was just...

He told her everything would be...Was...Fine...He knew she loved him...

Really...

She did have a chance to work with a Dr. Langely of the Smithsonian  
Institution...A reasonably generous man in terms of offering shared credit...

At least for 1903...

Who hoped to be the first man to develop a working powered aircraft...

She hoped, knowing as she did about the Wright brothers, that he might at least be  
the second...

Though one never knew...It being, after all, another universe...And perhaps, her  
boss...would be remembered...Among the more expert at least, as having built a  
superior craft...

With hopefully...At least some mention of her theoretical contributions to the  
design...

However they had a rather serious disagreement in the work...He wanted to launch  
his "aerodrome" from a houseboat in the Potomac...Using a catapult...

An idiotic idea, she thought...

And even crazier to have it done under full public scrutiny...Without any  
preliminary testing...

Still the poor man was in a tough spot...He had to deliver...And he was the Boss,  
however kind he might be to her...

She wasn't sure about the date...Too soon she thought...Scanning the papers for  
any announcement of the Wrights' success...

The test was held in the full glare of publicity...And Dr. Langely kept his word to  
her, mentioning her contribution to the design prominently...

Unfortunately, he insisted on using the catapult...At every disasterous try...

Even worse, he'd managed to get public backing...At a time when public backing  
was not easy to come by...And was very carefully watched over...

Despite the fact that several top men in the field, including Chanute, praised the  
design...And agreed the catapult idea was the real cause of the failure...

The press had a field day...

And a large share of the blame for the miserable failure fell on her...

Imagine...That fool Langely...Taking on a female "physicist" as a  
collaborator...No wonder...

"Professor" Fate...What a ludicrous notion...

Not to mention the waste of public funds...And the embarassment to the Nation...

Even William's dear friend Teddy...Now President Teddy...Backed quietly away  
from any association with her...

Naturally news of the Wrights' success came out a short time afterwards...

And while Angel LeGrand was not foolish enough to risk his life being the first  
man to fly a powered aircraft...He was quite content to be fourth...And set some of  
the first records...As the acclaimed "Great Angel"...

Angel...What a perfect name for the "Prince" of the New Air Age...The Age  
of the Technologic Pioneer...

The Press loved it...They loved him...As did...As always...The ladies...

As for "Professor" Fate...

The quotes stuck...And stuck in her craw...

Arggh...

***  
Much to her joy and relief...Walthrop was as determined as she to knock LeGrand  
off his little pedestal...

Something had to be done...She deserved her chance to set things right, he told  
her...

All she had to do...Was beat the little twit...At his own game...

Set a few trivial new records...Go a little faster, Fly a little higher...

And in machines designed and built by herself...Not fronting for some company of  
design engineers...His dear papa's company at that...

Her courage and skill proven...The public would flock to her...Not of course that  
he thought she was concerned with that sort of thing...

"It would be kinda nice..." she admitted to him sheepishly...

The basis for their lasting relationship...

Yet More (Semi) Parallel Lives... "Great Race, 1906"...Part VI...

A blow came to them at this time...Especially to poor William...

His beloved mother died...Of diphtheria... Barely 46 years old...

Buffy-Millie was furious with herself for weeks...To have wasted time...And  
energy...

On schemes to show up Angel...

When she could have been creating penicillin...vaccines...God knows...the  
CAT-scan, perhaps?...

She couldn't discuss this with poor Will...He had too much grief to hold her hand  
on something like this...

She sought the advice of the only other person in this universe who could  
understand her plight...And sorrow...

Good old Ben...Now, thanks to a necessary change of appearance...It having been  
time for his old self to go...And for him to take a new and slightly younger form...  
Good middle-aged Ben...Who'd kept in touch so that she could speak to him  
regarding any difficulties she might have in adjusting...

She wrote him from Indiana...And, true friend and benevolent minor deity that he  
was, he came to them while they were back in New England...Settling poor Mum's  
affairs...

She felt terrible...She'd only meant for him to write...But he took his pledge to  
assist her "transplantation" seriously...

Buffy-Millie explained her guilt...She was wasting her time and energy on  
senseless things...When she could be saving millions...Bring the world the miracles  
she had grown up with...Taken for granted...

Ben sympathized...He knew what it was like to know a cure was possible...And to  
have no chance to put it into effect...

But...

She wasn't a doctor...Or a biologist...And even if she changed professions...She  
had little knowledge of the details of the workings of the miracle medicines she'd  
described to him...

Not something she could build a career on...

She reluctantly agreed...

But, Ben pointed out to her...Noting poor Walthrop with his little sister and  
brother...

There was always a way one could help the living...

***  
She insisted on Amelia and Philip staying with them before William could ask  
her...

It would be like having Dawn back with her...she noted happily...And Phil was a  
sweetheart...

Only her sorrow for Amelia Sr's loss... And Will and his sibs' grief...Kept her from  
expressing her full happiness at their coming...

William was deeply grateful for his wife's kind heart...

She would have made...Must have been...What did she call it?...Oh, yes...

A wonderfully compassionate Slayer...

***  
Young Amelia and Phil now respectively 14 and 16, took to assisting her...With  
little Buffy and William, Jr., the children...And in her work...

With the greatest devotion...And admiration for their sis...

But...

They couldn't help noticing...

Her obsession with the defeat and humiliation of one Angel LeGrand...

Which kept her from doing other things...Grand and great things...And...

Seemed to bother dear brother Will no end...Much as he tried to conceal it...

Poor Millie...To waste so much time worrying about a fool like that...

***  
A prize had been offered...For the first successful attempt to cover the measured  
mile on land in under ten seconds...

A challenge the public looked to Angel LeGrand to accept...

Well...This time...Someone else would be accepting the challenge...Buffy-Millie  
Fate-Walthrop grimly noted...

A rocket-powered sled...A bold new idea...Well...To be honest...

Buffy had seen them on TV lots of times...

Very fast...Even in this era of low tech...

Strap a load of rockets to a sled...You get in the sled...Fire the rockets...And,  
what...

Go up like a Fourth of July candle?...Walthrop asked her...

There was no danger, she insisted...A quick ride...On a secure rail...With special  
protection at the two ends...

"If there's no danger...There's no reason we can't both go..." he noted...

Well...Maybe there was a leetle danger...

Then there was definitely a reason for him to go...

***  
A few weeks later they were ready...An old abandoned rail line section a few miles  
from their home...The new rocket-powered sled, a real work of art, Walthrop told  
her proudly...waiting on the track...

She stood by the sled...She and Walthrop had put a little touch of elegance into the  
sled...Long body frame, all black metal, rather sleek actually, with a pointed  
prow...Cushioned seats...Quite comfortable inside actually...Lots of padding...

As long as Walthrop insisted on going...She intended to see they came through...

"Gentlemen...I intend to cover the measured mile in less than eight seconds..."  
she told the few reporters who'd showed...

They smirked...A couple laughed...

"Professor" Fate at it again...

She gave them her grimmest glare...In her severe black dress...Even black  
beads...Mourning for poor Amelia yet...Not to mention a practical color for  
working on the sled in the mud and muck of the old rail yard...

With those teeth...Truly frightening...

One reporter wished he'd brought his camera...What a picture...

The Wild Witch of the Midwest...

"Are the rockets in order?..." she turned to Max...Who pulled up his goggles...He  
likewise in black...

"All set..." he gave a thumbs up...And patted the sled, grinning at her...

They stood beside each other...

The long and the short of it, one reporter chuckled to his mate...

She glared once more at the smirking reporters...Morons...Well in ten minutes  
she'd give them a glimpse of the future...

They got in and strapped down...She gave a countdown...

Nice touch, one reporter noted...That ten..nine...eight...thing really builds the  
tension...

The rockets fired on time and the sled swooped down the rail...

A reporter noted a couple of metal parts had fallen off the contraption...From deep  
underneath...Some kind of brace or clamps...

Well, probably not important...

They passed 300...340...380...miles per hour...Crushed into their seats...

She grinned at Walthrop in triumph...Today was their day...Took his hand and  
squeezed it...

He returned the squeeze and looked out...And down...

Far down...Very far down...

The sled had done what rockets do best...Blasted off and headed towards the  
stratosphere...

He grabbed her hand and she looked at him...Taking her eyes off the speed gauge  
to see...

Ulp...

About 1000 feet up now...And rising...

"Did you check the rail clamps when she was locked onto the railing?..." she asked  
him, a touch of annoyance...Trying to hold back the shading into real terror in her  
voice...

He nodded to indicate he had...

Her fear moved down the scale towards panic...And guilt...She must have  
miscalculated...Somehow...

With the rockets reaching the end of their burn...

"I'm really sorry about this, Max...I don't understand it..." she told him...As the  
rockets sputtered out behind them...

Guess I really should have tested the full-scale sled one last time...

"Iloveyou..." they gasped out to each other...

They went down as fast as they had gone up...Clinging to each other for dear life...

Aaaah...

***  
A farmer tending his pigs a few miles from the site of the Walthrops' efforts heard  
a strange, whizzing noise...

And suddenly a loud plop...As the Walthrops and their sled went into his pigs'  
mud hole...

Clambering to the top of the sled in the muck...Buffy-Millie felt a moment of  
absolute panic when Walthrop did not appear immediately...

And an intense, overwhelming desire when he did...

Good to be alive, she noted...Very good...

Unfortunately the reporters had followed their vapor trail and showed up just  
when she was about to make the fiasco worth William's while...

"Well...I'd like to see the Great Angel top this..." Walthrop told the  
reporters...Looking as proudly as he could at her while covered in pig muck...

Sadly the record was intended to be set on land...Only...

No exceptions...

Walthrop found the broken pieces of the locking clamps while surveying the rail  
site a day after the run...Deliberately and with considerable effort...Hacked  
through...

Difficult job for most men...To crawl underneath the sled and cut through while it  
was sitting on the rail...And by someone who'd known exactly where to cut...

Nice effort by the little lady, Mr. LeGrand noted to the press...After he broke the  
record in a similar rocket-powered sled about ten days later...

A very similar sled...

Arrgh...

A prize was offered...A test of speed and maneuverability...On water...

To complete a difficult and intricate course...At a speed of at least 50 miles per  
hour...With a final flat lane top speed of at least 100...

The public looked to its hero of the hour...Who promised not to disappoint them...

Wilhelmina Harris was engaged in a different crusade...She having been caught up short  
during a suffrage demonstration by a fellow marcher...Who noted during  
discussions that her husband's newspaper, the Sentinel...Did not employ a single  
woman...With the exception of a society column researcher...

Hmmn...She'd been embarrassed on this one...Well...She'd have to speak to Alex  
about it...

***  
She cornered him in his office...

"Employ more women?...On the Sentinel?..." dear Alex was shocked...Leaning  
back in his chair to look at her...

The things dear Willow comes up with...

It's that friend of hers...Millie...And those crazy suffragettes...

Young Warren Mears...Harris' assistant and the man who really kept the Sentinel  
running...A real genius with machinery...Entered...To report that the "Great Angel"  
had announced he would attempt the water trial...In his family company's newly  
designed speedboat...

Taking advantage of the distraction, Alex tried the social good approach...Times  
were hard...

"Dear...To do that...I'd be putting men out of work...Family men...With children..."

She looked at Warren...Hmmn...Single..

But sadly, indispensable...

There were plenty of single women...Many with children...Who needed decent  
work...She pointed out...As for his argument...

Ridiculous evasion...And not worthy of him...

He could add a few new reporters...Two printers were retiring...

Ummn...Now...She knew he was a Progressive...A man who was willing to take  
stands which some in Society...Might frown on...For the sake of the greater  
good...Or for individual justice...

Yes?...She noted grimly, waiting...If he uses our marriage...To get off the hook...

Wisely, Alexander avoided that minefield...

He wasn't opposed to the idea of female reporters...But...Our advertising clients  
are our lifesblood...

And they are...Conservative...

Well...Being the Sentinel's bookkeeper...Unpaid...And unofficially...Willow had to  
admit to herself they couldn't afford the loss of a large part of their client base...

Warren smirked...Female reporters...What would they write about?...We have a  
society reporter...

Get out...Willow told him...

Maybe not so indispensable...

Alex took advantage of the lull...And considered...Hah!...

He actually had one female candidate in mind for the position of reporter, he told  
Willow...

A Black woman...

Who'd applied just the other day...Alex grinned proudly...He'd been waiting to  
check her credentials before telling his wife of his grand experiment in social  
justice...

Surely...That would be sufficient progress for one week...

A Black woman...Female and Black...He had her there, Willow had to admit...

That was progress...

Though she seriously doubted he'd planned to actually hire the lady until one  
minute ago...

Name?...

Oh...Ummn...Dubois...That's it!...Yes...Miss Madeline DuBois...

And you're going to hire her?...

Of course...Well, as long as all her credentials are confirmed...

"Ok..." She regarded him coolly...

Clever little man, sometimes...Well...I'll let him off easy...This time...

"Invite her to dinner..." she told him... "I want to meet her..."

Yes, dear...

But he deserved a bone...She was pleased with him...

"Alex...It's very courageous of you..." she smiled at him...And rather...Exciting...

"But don't let me down on this..."

Yes, dear...

Well...We have to start somewhere...Willow thought...Looking at her husband's  
rather satisfied face...

But this is just the beginning...

Warren slipped out of the room as quickly and quietly as he could...

A lady...A black lady...Comin' to the Sentinel?...He had to tell the gang this one...

Warren hadn't bothered to mention that one other person had entered the  
competition for the water speed trial...Seemed too ridiculous to mention...

Professor...She actually did hold the title from her teaching at the college in  
Indiana...Millicent Fate...

She still felt it best to use her own name...Partly to make it her personal  
triumph...No offense, sweetheart...And partly to avoid associating the Walthrop  
name with a somewhat...Vaudevillan...activity...

Must consider the childrens' futures...Including sweet Amelia...Who would be  
"coming out" in a few years...And Philip...Not to mention little Buffy and Will Jr...

Can't let them be associated with such low...Entertainment...And...She admitted  
only to herself and Walthrop...A potential fiasco...

Not a chance, William told her...Unless...Someone causes trouble...Again...

He would be keeping a close eye...Several...On the equipment...

***  
She had chosen to do things dramatically...With a craft capable of lifting itself just  
out of the water on skis as it reached high speeds...

A brilliant design...Sure to revolutionize seacraft...

A potential gold mine for the Fate-Walthrop company...

The commission sponsoring the trials informed her that they  
must...Reluctantly...Disallow her entry...

She clearly didn't understand the dangers involved...For a wife and mother to risk  
herself in such a manner...

No...The public would never stand for it...

Arrgh...

Walthrop suggested they try a duplicate of the same course in any case...Present  
the commission with a fait accompli...

Witnessed by reporters and the public...The prize was unimportant so long as she  
proved she could do it...Which he had no doubts about...

It's why she loved him...She told him...

However...He insisted on going with her...

She wouldn't have it any other way...she told him...

The boat was black, gleaming in the sun...Incorporating the sleek design she and  
Walthrop loved in their vehicles...Again plenty of protective material around the  
pilot and passenger seats...

This time only two reporters even bothered to stop by...

She had switched to off-white for this one...At Walthrop's suggestion...

She looked so beautiful in off-white...Highlighted her eyes...

And she tried to smile...Annoyed as she was at the lack of coverage, she knew  
Walthrop had sunk more of their funds than he should have into this one...For her  
sake...

Even the reporters noted she didn't look like the grim witch they'd been led to  
expect...Rather a cute couple, actually...

Sadly no photographer present...

They strapped in and took off...It started well...

The boat skimmed along, rising out on its skis as planned...But then...

At the first turn...She couldn't steer...The wheel turned uselessly in her hands...

They headed straight for a sea wall...Can't stop she mouthed to Walthrop...

They jumped in the nick of time...

The press had another field day...Commenting solemnly on the sad and pathetic  
spectacle...

Of a woman attempting projects far beyond the scope of her abilities...

***  
Despite William's careful guard and the assistance of workers from their  
factory...Plus Amelia's and Phil's surveillance...Someone had gotten into the boat's  
control works...The control wires had definitely been severed...

And she had no doubt as to who was responsible...

Two could play at this game, she told Max...

Who, much to her delight...Agreed...

There's a lot of Spike in him, after all...She noted...Rather wickedly...

The Great Angel was to make his attempt on the 12th...

"Professor" Fate and Co. planned to be in attendance...

With a little surprise...

A new invention of her own...Well, built with Max's devoted help...She noted  
gratefully...

An acoustic torpedo...

Not an especially dangerous one, mind you...She didn't intend murder...

Much as she might wish it...Two young children to think of...And her young  
sister-in-law, Dawn...Amelia, she corrected...And Philip...

No, just enough to do a little damage...And prevent any new records from being  
set here...

Play Theme...The Angel Le Grand March (Monty Python's Flying Circus)

A small brass band...Local musicians...Played a jubilant welcome to the gallant  
hero...

Dazzling in a cream white suit...Gloves...Shoes...And those white teeth...

The crowd spilled over the river front...Police holding them back...

A small circus troop performed...Vendors hawked the crowd...

Angel made his way slowly through the cheering, dense throng...

How does he manage to keep those clothes so white...Several of the phalanx of  
eager reporters wondered...

The Great Angel waved to his cheering public...Nodded pleasantly to the  
numerous ladies...Showed his trademark smile to the prettiest...And climbed  
aboard...

His gleaming...White...Speedboat...

His devoted mechanic, aide, and bodyguard, Hezekiah, secured him in his  
seat...The crowd quieted down and waited for their hero to set off...

At an inlet just up the river, Fate and Walthrop waited...Torpedo at the ready...  
They set the torpedo running and picked up the sound of Angel's high revving  
motor...

"Pretty poor engine design...From the sound of it..." she noted to Max...

They got into their car and headed out...Unfortunately...

Their car chose that moment to backfire...Several times...

The torpedo was even more sensitive than she had realized and picked up the  
backfires as the stronger sound...

Redirecting its course...

Fortunately...It was not very powerful...Only blowing out their rear tires and  
causing them to crash mildly...Flipping them...Into a mud hole...

She noted the torpedo had...After all...Worked...

If he'd only gotten the car tuned up first...

Mr. LeGrand completed the course to the greatest acclaim of his career to date...

Setting a new world's record...

And winning the $10,000 prize...

No one noting that the LeGrand boat incorporated the same lifting feature  
Professor Fate's had...

Arrgh...

***  
But Angel could not afford to rest on his laurels...

There were many eager young heroes nipping at his heels...

And all fame is fleeting...The public was in fact getting a bit jaded at the daily  
announcements of new records being set in every field...

Though Angel's sense of showmanship had kept them entertained and excited...So  
far...

But he knew it would not last...He was more aware than anyone of how illusionary  
his successes were...

He'd done nothing that would last...Hadn't even been allowed to participate in the  
design of the vehicles he'd driven and flown...All the work of his father's team...

And his father...While pleased to see his son winning such universal acclaim...

Was not particularly impressed as regarding the more practical side of his boy's  
achievements...

Even that crazed woman...That Miss Fate...Had created her own vehicles...And,  
disastrous for her as they had proven to be...

They had been rather an inspiration to his company's design team...

LeGrand needed something...Special...To capture the public's imagination yet  
again...On a permanent scale...With a practical benefit for the LeGrand Machinery  
Works, Inc...Particularly it's new subsidiary, LeGrand Motors...Which his father  
hoped to build into the Nation's leading automobile manufacturer...

If the damned things really did become popular with the public...

***  
Miss DuBois...Tall, graceful, charming...Black...

"We're very, very pleased to meet you...Miss DuBois..." Willow told her  
warmly...Welcoming her into their brownstone...

The maid having been uncertain...As to whether to send her to the servants'  
entrance or call for the police...

***  
LeGrand Motors had created a new prototype automobile...A truly remarkable  
vehicle...Elegant, sleek, yet incredibly durable...

The automobile of the future...Today...

And Hercule LeGrand, Angel's father and Chairman of the Board, wanted to see  
it properly introduced...

With a bang...

Angel made a bold proposal to the executive board of his father's newly-founded  
auto works...What about an auto race?...

Hmmn...His father frowned...Hardly a new thing...

"Buffalo to Albany?..." One board member asked... "Been done..."

"New York to Cleveland..." Another noted... "Last year..."

Angel smiled and rolled the prototype's model down the long table of the Board...

"New York...To Paris..."

Hmmn...

Miss DuBois' credentials were exemplary...Several years on the leading Negro  
papers in New York and Washington...

Degrees in English, History, and several foreign languages...

Impressive...And a little embarrassing...Mrs. Harris sheepishly noted...

Even dear Millie would have to run to keep up with this one...

Beautiful...And a very charming manner...Clearly she'd dealt with a lot in making  
her way thus far but had somehow managed to keep her spirit intact...

She for her part was deeply impressed with Willow's sincere desire for her  
success...Mr. Harris had seemed a trifle hesitant when he interviewed her earlier...

But clearly they both were committed to Social Advancement...Even if he was  
being dragged a bit by his wife...

Yes...She could consider their offer...

Consider?...Alex thought...Are there many leading New York papers offering  
positions to young black women?...Reporter positions, that is...

Hmmn...Willow thought...Miss DuBois is a bit...Forceful...

But that's what we'll need here...However...Noting that Alexander was seeming  
rather impressed with the young lady...Her forthright manner...

And her beauty...

He seemed...In fact...Rather more pleased with the idea of her coming to the  
Sentinel than she'd expected...

And was doing his best to assure her of his strongest support...And admiration for her courage...

Perhaps...

Perhaps...We'll need a special assignment for Miss DuBois...Something  
important...Prominent...

Far from New York...

Odd though...Somehow...She had the strangest feeling she knew the  
woman...From somewhere...

Rumors of the planned race spread like wildfire...Through the great city of New  
York...Across the State...Across the vast Midwestern prairie...

To a small college town in Indiana...

***  
Buffy-Millie knew it would be an expensive gamble...To design and build a new  
car...Spend months circumnavigating the globe...But...This time...If LeGrand and  
his goons tried anything...She'd be ready...

William was less sure...Their small company was profitable but could only bear so much loss...And to be away from home and the chicks for so long...

All in the cause of beating Angel LeGrand...

Still...She was so anxious to recoup her past failures...So sure she could pull this  
one off...So...desperately unhappy...

Something had to be done...

And...If they succeeded there would be enormous benefit for the company and  
their futures...

After all, all their success was due to her work...Her inventions...

If she chose to risk it all on one more throw...Well...She had the right...

But she wanted...Needed...his support...And...As always...

He gave it...And put the best face on it...It would be the trip of a lifetime, after  
all...

But it did hurt a bit...After all these years together...We're still chasing after  
LeGrand...

***  
Buffy-Millie arranged that her parents would care for the children...Despite their  
serious reservations about her schemes, they agreed...

Amelia and Phil were angered...Millie was out of her mind...A race around the  
world...She and Will would be killed...Dead...They'd been lucky to escape two  
brushes with death...This was insane...

At the very least they could take them with them...To keep her and Will out of  
danger...Safe...

But there was nothing to do but accept the inevitable and prepare to go to New  
England with the little ones...

The Commission set up at the instigation of the LeGrand Company to work out  
plans for the Great Around the World Race regretted to inform Mrs. Walthrop that women would not be allowed to compete...

If the race was approved at all...

The proposed route was far, far too dangerous for a frail woman to attempt...Even with a male companion...

But...

They greatly admired her spirit in wishing to apply...As they did all five of the  
little women who had sent in applications...

Yours very truly,

Prominently listed among the commissioners...

The members of the LeGrand Motor Company Board of Directors...

And among the list of board members...Hercule and Angel LeGrand...

Arrgh...

Well...We could get a lawyer...Walthrop suggested...Or just follow their  
route...Force them to accept that you were able to do it...

Oh, we'll force them to accept that I'm able to do it, all right...she grimly told  
him...

But...

"I go as an official racer...Or no one goes..."

***  
The full Directors' Board of LeGrand Motors had met to give approval to the race  
plans...And make the final selection of contestants...To be rubber-stamped by the  
supposedly independent Racing Commission Hercule LeGrand had formed...

Angel...As a member of the board...Was in attendance...With his mechanic and  
roustabout, Hezekiah...

The Board was still somewhat divided...To sponsor such an event...A  
bit...Vaudevillan...

Angel made use of his most persuasive powers...

"Gentlemen...The Automobile...Symbol of America's Technical Prowess...This  
Race Around the World will be the final proof of that Prowess...If won by an  
American...In an American car...

A LeGrand Motors car, gentlemen...

This company has created...The greatest car ever designed...And I will, with God's help and Our Country's support...Drive it to victory..."

His teeth sparkled as he wooed the Board in spite of their reservations...

Here-here...

A tall, slender...Brunette maid brought in the coffee...Looking at Mr. LeGrand as  
he expressed his noble, manly sentiments...

Understandable...Angel LeGrand, after all...

However...Hezekiah had the slight feeling...That he knew her from  
somewhere...Hmmn...Was she the gal from...The one his cousin got...Nope...

Where?...Wait...Nah...Couldn't be one of the Boss'?...With those teeth?...Not  
likely...Still...He had the strangest feeling...

For her part, she gave him a quick glance...Wesley?...A bald Wesley?...With  
muscles?...And scurried out of the room...

She went out the door, but stood by it...Listening on the other side...Hezekiah  
noted the door ajar...The tall maid obviously listening at it...

Well, Angel LeGrand was speaking, after all...Still...

One dissenting voice was heard...A slight, bearded chap wearing thick  
spectacles...Apparently of Scots extraction, judging by his heavily accented  
voice...New to the Board, several noted...

"No...No...Absouloutely Nooo..." the slight Scotsman rose, shaking his head  
decisively...

"Shall a company of this repute allow itself to place its future in the hands of a  
charlatan?...A well-known libertine?...Gentlemen...I say...Noooo..."

Further...The wee Scotsman pointed out...It was becoming a scandal that several  
racers had been denied their chance to apply...The Racing Commission...A  
laughing-stock...

Was this Company merely a tool for publicizing young Mr. LeGrand's exploits?...

Hmmn...Angel looked at the little man...Could it be?...

He strode over and pulled at...Walthrop's?...beard...

The little man screamed and jumped up...Holding his torn beard...

Angel attempted to apologize...He'd made a terrible mistake...You see, you look  
just like...

"See..." the man cried to the startled members... "The damned fool...He tried to  
pull me beard off..." He tugged nervously at the beard, pulling it off to reveal...  
Walthrop...

Oops...

Hezekiah pulled the door open, knocking Buffy-Millie in her disguise to the floor  
as she held the stethoscope she'd been listening through in her hand while she  
leaned against the door...

She leaped to her feet before the astonished Board could realize what was  
happening...

And pulled...Something...Vaguely dangerous looking from her hair...A fiendish  
device, perhaps?...

"Back!..." she hollered fiercely... "Or all of you go to kingdom come..."

She faced them with a grim look...Fixing on LeGrand...

Now, Millie...Angel looked at her, shaking his head...

Was she ever going to get over him?...he wondered...

Well, after all...Angel LeGrand...

But he wisely kept his place...

She turned and raced for the window where Walthrop was already climbing  
out...He jumped...

The board looked at each other in collective horror...He jumped!...

She climbed up...And tossed the bottle in her hand at Angel...Lemon-scented  
water...

She turned to face them...

"Angel will lose...Your automobile will lose...I...I will win..." she grimly called  
out to the Board, waving her hand at them all in a wide sweep...Standing at the brink...She jumped!...

The Board looking on in yet more collective horror...One aged gentleman fainting at the sight...

The disgrace to the Company...What could the mad woman have been thinking?...

Angel ran to the window...

"Millie?..." he looked...

Down to where Walthrop waited in a truck with mattresses to cushion her fall...

Sadly, too many...She bounced...Off the mattresses and onto the ground...

"Max!..." she hollered...As he started off...

***  
Yet More (Semi) Parallel Lives..."Great Race, 1906"...Part VII

Willow, with Alexander's reluctant approval bailed the Walthrops out of jail two  
days later...

And used her persuasive talents...And a leetle sexual blackmail...To get him to get the Sentinel to take up Millie's right to be included among the contestants...

As a matter of noblesse oblige, of course...

Sensing that public opinion was moving toward Professor Fate's "underdog"  
side...LeGrand persuaded his father and the Company to drop any charges against  
Mrs. Walthrop...

In the spirit of sportsmanship...After all, the little woman...All the little women  
who met the qualifications...deserved their chance to compete...

And he for one...Was all for allowing the little ladies their chance...

The Press as always applauded their hero's nobility and gentlemanliness...

***  
Annoying...Thought Wilhelmina as she read competitors' tales of Angel's noble  
and chivalrous gesture toward the crazed female "Professor"...

Millie was a professor, after all...Even if the college she taught at was a little,  
unknown one...

But the Great Race offered an opportunity...Both for her dear friend and...For one  
of their newest reporters to display her talents...

"Alex...Who are you sending to cover this Race?..." she asked...

Well...He was a bit surprised that she asked...She usually thought this sort of thing frivolous fluff...And with Angel LeGrand prominently involved...

Of course, dear Millie seemed likely to be entering after all...So, naturally she was taking an interest...

"It seems to me Miss DuBois might be perfect for the job..." she told him...

Miss DuBois...To cover an event like the Great Around the World Race?...For the Sentinel?...

When she was becoming so pleasant to have around the office...He wisely did not say...

"Willow...Dearest...I really don't think our readers...Our advertisers...Would find  
it...Acceptable..."

Would they know Miss DuBois was black?...No...And if she used the byline  
...Would they even know she was a she?...At least until it was too  
late...And the reading public was hooked on her tales...

Just present them with a fait accompli...

Well...He'd consider it...And ask Miss DuBois about it...But...

She was becoming so...Useful...At the office...A real finger on the pulse of the  
city...

Uh-huh...Willow wondered just whose pulse Miss DuBois' fingers were feeling...

She'd be happy to discuss it with her for him...Willow noted...

Perhaps...She could go along with Millie and Will...

***  
Miss DuBois in fact was already looking into the possibility of joining the  
race...As a contestant, backed by the Sentinel...

A chance to do a major story in two fields a woman was rarely if ever allowed  
into...

Sport and Engineering...

And square that rarity if the woman was Black...

She was determined to participate in the race itself...At least in driving the route  
with the racers...Sharing their hardships...Not be ferried about by train and boat like the LeGrand phalanx of admiring dolts...

A real chance to get the feel of what being a racer must be like...And bringing it to the public...

But she knew it would be long odds for her to get in...Even as an observer...Let  
alone a contestant...

And, a forthright young woman, had felt it best to get started on the project  
without waiting for the approval of her superiors at the Sentinel...

But perhaps...As long as young Mr. Grand seemed anxious to demonstrate his  
support for "the little ladies" and had helped Professor Fate to get her place...He  
might be the right place for her to start...

And she would need interviews with all the participating racers anyway...May as  
well start with him...Son of the race's principle sponsor as well...

She requested an interview...By telephone...

It would be shock enough that a female reporter was requesting an interview...To  
add in the race factor as well...

Angel was headed down to the company's testing grounds...But Angel LeGrand  
always has time for a lady...

If she didn't mind coming down to the proving grounds he could meet with her on the 20th...

Which invite she was quick to accept...

Willow was a bit...Startled...To learn from her protege that she had anticipated  
her...But persuaded Alex to confirm the assignment and leave it to Miss DuBois to settle her arrangements...

Heading down to demand a place in the race from the loathsome LeGrand...

Forthright lady, that Miss DuBois...

There was a slight problem, Walthrop told Buffy-Millie...

He would need a bit more time to raise the funding she'd need...Unless she wanted to take a major risk with what savings they had...

Pity the preliminary starting date couldn't be set back a month or so...

Hmmn...Buffy-Millie thought...Yeah, a pity...

Bet Angel has no problems like this...With his family's money and companies...

And a supply of thugs to deal with troublesome competitors...

She remembered that his adoring Press had mentioned that he would testing his  
company's new car in Saratoga Springs...With a major unveiling on the 20th...

Hmmn...And that new car is a unique prototype...The only one of its kind...

Delay of a month or so, eh...

Would he like to see the children in New England once more before the race start  
date?...

Indeed, William noted...If you think we'd have the time?...

With perhaps a little side trip to Saratoga Springs, New York...

On the 20th...she grinned...Wickedly...

Oh...

The Angel Special...Dazzling...White as the teeth of its owner...Long,  
sleek...Similar to what would be the Stutz-Bearcat in externals but far more sturdy and reliable...

And measuring up in every way to the standards the race would require...And the  
stresses it would impose...

Perhaps the most beautiful automobile built to the present day...Hercule LeGrand proudly noted to reporters...Certainly the most durable...

A card reached the waiting Angel...From Miss DuBois...Who for some reason was having a leetle trouble at the entrance to the proving grounds...

She had to admit he recovered from the shock of her with aplomb...And the  
gallantry he was famous for...

He was deeply distressed that she'd been put to any embarrassment...His fault  
entirely...

He quietly suggested to the guard that he check credentials rather than make  
personal judgments in the future...

And welcomed Miss DuBois...Of the New York Sentinel...To the LeGrand Motor Company testing grounds...

If she'd care to come to his tent by the testing track...Where he had taken the  
liberty of providing some refreshments...They could commence...In absolute privacy...

Her interview...

Tall as Millie Fate...He noted...And quite beautiful...

But...He had the oddest feeling he'd met her...Somewhere...Before...

***  
Walthrop was rather uncertain about this escapade...Destroy the Angel  
Special?...From overhead?...With a bomb?...

They were heading into rather deep waters on this one, he noted...

"Not destroy, Max...Damage...We drop a small bomb...When no one is anywhere  
around...Leave them a month or so of repair work...And we get the time we need for you to hunt up our funding..." she told him...

Simplicity itself...As was the plan...They'd use a small helium dirigible...Moved by pedal power...Thus avoiding the noise of an airplane...

Employ a new device of hers...Which she had developed very reluctantly and only to recover their losses in the failed competitions...A bombsight...Allowing a bomb dropped from overhead to be perfectly targeted onto a ground site...

She hated it...The first and only weapon enhancement she ever intended to  
build...But...The company's reputation had suffered from her failures and the resulting publicity...And she couldn't allow the family to suffer for her fiascos...

However...In this case...It would be quite useful...

They had, after all, nearly been killed...Twice...A mother and father...

Well...If she promised to abort the mission if anyone was anywhere near...

"Max...What do you take me for?..." Buffy-Millie asked him, shocked...

An extremely obsessed woman...he told her, frankly...But...

With a just cause...And legitimate grievance...

"Well...If you don't want to help me..."

I said a just cause, dear...He reminded her...I go too or you don't...

I do take him much too much for granted...Buffy-Millie thought guiltily...

***  
"Champagne, Miss DuBois?..."

Miss DuBois politely declined...

She was a bit nervous at being alone with the Great Angel in his tent...No one but  
Hezekiah anywhere nearby...And he apparently inclined to keep to his machinery repair work outside...

He had a reputation of being...Fast...

"Are you perhaps related to the famous Dr. DuBois?..."

A distant cousin...Interesting that he knows about him, she noted...Apparently not all white teeth and hot air...

"I feel that this new century will see great Progress in all fields...Including the  
advancement of the most destitute and oppressed groups of all societies..." Angel smiled at her...

A very beautiful woman...And he rather liked them tall...

"Indeed Mr. LeGrand...And what is your position on the advancement of  
women?..." she asked him...

Women...He paused to flash his most winning smile...Have no need  
of...Advancement...

They are...Already...In the highest position of all Society...

Guardians of the Nation's...The World's...Future...

And Keepers of the Home's Sacredness...The Nation's Moral Tone...

Hmmn...Miss DuBois looked at him...

And your opinion of females entering your race around the world?...

Well...Only one, "Professor" Fate, had been accepted...But he admired the pluck of all the ladies who'd sought to compete...

Admirable spirit...

They'd all make wonderful mothers...

Indeed...Miss DuBois continued to look at him...

And... "Professor"...er Professor Fate?...

A tragic case...An old friend actually...At least in happier days...But...

Driven to distraction by her desperate attempts to match a man's ability...

He blamed the husband for some of it...

The right sort of man would have kept her...Satisfied at home...

"Really..."...Miss DuBois said dryly...Staring at him...

"I was planning to compete myself...At least unofficially..."

Really?...Said Angel...

Buffy-Millie and Max had pedaled their sausage-shaped little blimp over the site where the Angel Special had been parked after its daily trial...About 2000 feet overhead...

No one was about...As the grounds were fenced off with tight security at the  
gates...

However no one had considered to look directly overhead...

"Beautiful car...I've never seen one like it..." Walthrop noted...Looking through the bombsight at the Angel Special...

"No, me neither...And we won't see it for at least a month after I get through with  
it..." Buffy-Millie noted with a sly grin...

She set up the small bomb on its guiding track...An infernal machine...Though of  
relatively modest power...

"Are you absolutely sure about this...Buffy...? Walthrop asked her..

Hmmn he never calls me Buffy...Except in our hottest throes of passion...  
She thought...

"I'm sure as I'm sure of anything..."she told him... "Today that pig..."

"Careful...Sweetheart that bomb has only a ten second fuse..."

She had begun waving her arms...And struck the bomb rack...The bomb slipped  
off and falling off the rack, lodged in the pedals of their little blimp...

He looked at her...And sighed...

"I'll get it..." he said resignedly...

She held him back and the bomb exploded...

It was after all a fairly small bomb...Barely punctured the bag of their blimp...

They managed to come down over the water...And floated safely to shore, courtesy of Buffy-Millie's new fangled life jackets...

Miss DuBois and Mr. LeGrand had vaguely heard...Something...

Apparently some distant thunder...

Angel...While Saluting...Truly...Miss DuBois' courage...Felt...Perhaps...She was  
making a mistake...

The Great Race would be no place for a woman traveling alone...However  
intrepid...

She was willing to concede that...She surprised him by saying...If he amended the  
"woman" to anyone...Therefore...She was looking to travel with a racer...

Miss DuBois?...Travel with a racer?...A young woman...A lovely young  
woman...Alone...With a race team?...

No reader would know she was a Black woman she told him dryly...Until later in  
the race...

He hadn't been talking about that, he informed her...But the impropriety of her  
traveling with two men...Alone...

Of course...She accepted his point...But...If she were to travel with someone of  
impeccable reputation...

But...Angel looked at her...Tempting...But...If his public found out...And in the  
course of a six months race it was likely they would...

A female companion...Unmarried...Not his betrothed...Black...

Not likely to sit well with his adoring fans...

No...

He suggested politely that she reconsider...He of course couldn't speak for the  
Racing Commission...But he doubted they'd accept a lone woman...

A lone...Black woman?...She asked him...

Now, Miss DuBois...

She thanked him...She'd see herself out...

She had no doubt she had in fact just heard from the Commission...

Hmmn...She thought...And I thought I'd of enjoyed going with him...

Moron...

Still...He is a beautiful man...

Well...At least there was one woman in the field of competitors...

She decided to head straight out to Indiana...

Well...No problem...Walthrop told the crestfallen Millicent...

Pleased as she was that she'd hadn't ended by drowning him...

He'd raise the funds in time somehow...

Fortunately one of the other racers' funding fell through temporarily...And Angel,  
in the spirit of gallant fair play and competition...Requested a one month's delay of the start...

Which was granted...

Yet More (Semi) Parallel Lives..."Great Race, 1906"...Part VIII

The extra month's delay had given Walthrop the time he needed to raise funds for  
the new car and the race's expenses...

Though he did not tell Buffy-Millie the full extent of the risk they were taking...

She was so desperate to make the effort...And he reasoned, with six months to  
recover from any "problems" LeGrand's men might cause allow the way...This time they would succeed...

He had absolute faith in her genius...And if the company was put at some risk...If  
their home had to be included in that risk...Well...All their past success was due to her...

With the exception of the week they'd spent in New England with her parents and  
the children...And their little excursion to Saratoga Springs, NY...She had kept to her workshop on their home property for nearly two months...And emerged triumphantly two weeks after they got back...

He hadn't seen her so happy in years...And she wanted him to be the first to see...

"My greatest achievement...The Hannibal Super Twin 8!..." she proudly hugged  
the car...

Walthrop beamed...So nice to her happy...She's so rarely happy these days...

The car was a monument to her design skills...Gleaming in her trademark  
black...Rugged and functional yet sleek...With maximum visibility in all directions...Heavily armored against...Any possible foes...Retractable headlights, plus a large spotlight...With a set of caterpillar treads which could be lowered to replace the wheels in exceptionally rough terrain...And the engine...Fuel efficient, and the most powerful and durable ever placed inside an automobile...

And Buffy Summers hadn't even known how to change oil...She proudly  
recalled...

This was Millie's creation...Well, Buffy-Millie's...Buffy's memories had helped as  
always...

She was eager to show off and pulled him into the car...

So many features...Where to begin?...Ah...The vertical lift...

"When the flood waters rise...We rise above them!"

"Push the button, Max!" Walthrop pushed the vertical lift and the body of the car  
rose smoothly...Nearly twenty feet above the chassis...

Phew...Both thought...It works...

"When fog and snow blind the roads...We heat our way through them!..." she  
cried...

"Push the button, Max!"

He pushed the button activating the forward heating unit...A powerful red glow  
came from the prow in front of the car...

Phew...

"And when savages and enemies...Of any kind...Attack us!..."

"Button, Max!..."

Walthrop pushed the button on the main front cannon...It popped out in front,  
automatically set the range on the targeted wall and fired...Blasting a hole in the workshop wall...

"Yeah!..." Buffy-Millie screamed, clenching a fist... "Yeah!"

The Slayer in me is back...She thought happily...

Phew...Thought Walthrop...She'd of been so disappointed if it  
hadn't...Say?...What...Enemies?...

Ummn...Dear...It's nice to have proper protection and all...But...

"Millie...We won't actually be using this thing...Will we?...I wouldn't want to hurt anyone..." he looked at her...

"Just a little protection, Max...A little ace in our hole..."

Ah...Well, if you really want it, Mil...So long as nobody's hurt...

***  
Miss DuBois had arrived in the Walthrop's home town...Craftsville, Indiana...

Town seemed a little familiar to her...Somehow...

After her unfortunate little encounter with Mr. LeGrand...She was anxious...She  
had to get a place in the Race somehow...Plus...

She needed background on the other potential racers...And who better to begin  
with than the famous...Or infamous...Professor Fate...A woman...

Who might well sympathize with a struggling fellow female...

And agree to take her along in the race...

Still, pity about LeGrand...Beautiful man...Even if a moronic twit on the subject of women...

After a minor degree of harassment from a few louts in town, Miss DuBois got  
directions to the Walthrop home...

"Strange people, those..." the sympathetic young fellow who guided her told her...

"Especially that woman..."

"I wouldn't go there if you paid me..."

Hmmn...Well...The Professor was struggling against large odds...

Hopefully she'd appreciate the forthright approach...

***  
She reached the Walthrop home...A large, old, dark house in a run-down area of  
the town near the small college where the Professor taught...The Fate-Walthrop Company being located nearby as well...

Gated...With an extremely high fence...And multiple warning signs to warn off the curious...

Professor Fate was a bit tired of the "curious"...

But Miss DuBois was sure the Professor would ...As a fellow woman...Who was  
rumored to be sympathetic on the race question...

Welcome her...Once she knew why she had come...

Unfortunately she had not discussed her plans to see the Professor with her  
employer's wife Mrs. Harris...Who hadn't known Miss DuBois was off to see her dear friend...

A little too forthright in this case perhaps...

The sound of music came from the Walthrop house...Loud music...

It was lonely in the house without the children, Buffy-Millie thought...So she  
decided to liven up their celebration of her latest achievement with one of her more successful attempts to recreate Buffy's world...

A stereophonic music system...

Capable of playing phonographic records...Or amplifying music played from a  
keyboard...

She was playing... Trying to, anyway...

Play theme..Here Comes the Sun]

"Here Comes the Sun..." At least as much of it as Buffy could remember...

Appropriate, she thought looking at Will who was setting up a romantic dinner...

Partly in declaration of her rising spirits...And partly...To celebrate the fact that her William would never need to fear the sun...

So long as dear Ben was right about there being no vampires active in this  
dimension...

William pleasantly applauded her efforts to beat George Harrison to the punch...Very  
New music, dear...Very new...

Millie had had training in classical music...So she switched to Bach...Toccata and  
Fugue...  
Toccata and Fugue

Likewise appropriate...To celebrate her greatest triumph...

She wasn't bad, actually...But mainly Walthrop was pleased to see her so happy...

And quite fetching in that nightgown...The red one, with the puffy shoulders...The Puffy Buffy shoulders he liked to say...

She grinned at him as she finished with a crash...Looking at him...Wickedly...

They didn't often get the house alone to themselves these days...

She set the stereo system to play on its own...

Hey there...Spike...She called to him...

Good thing no one but Ben was around from her universe to appreciate the  
Freudian significance...

Not that William would have minded...He'd come to sense quite a kinship with  
this...Spike...

And anything was better than having her call out...Angel...

The Walthrops were clearly...Busy...

And did not seem to hear her knocking...A doorbell ring got only a phonographic  
record telling her that Spike and Buffy were...Occupied...Please come again...Not...

Leetle joke Buffy-Millie liked to play on the "curious"...

Spike and Buffy?...

Strange...She was sure she'd heard those names before...Together...

Anyway...For a forthright woman and intrepid reporter-photographer a ten-foot  
spiked fence is no obstacle...

With luck she might even sneak a peek at the Professor's car...

Hercule LeGrand was a bit worried...His son was on his own in this endeavor...

Well unless you count the agents placed around the world strategically at every  
principal city along the proposed route..To provide assistance in case of "emergencies"...

But in this he would not have the unique "help" his father had obtained in his  
previous successes against Professor Fate...

It wasn't that Hercule lacked faith in his son...He had total and absolute faith that  
the young prancing fool would fail utterly if left to himself...Look at what he'd had to do to get him out of that potential disaster at Princeton...When he'd stolen that foolish woman's thesis...Well parts of it...

And then in a fit of remorse had wanted to confess all...After all the effort Hercule had gone to to keep it from becoming a scandal...

No, the boy was physically brave and charming enough...But he lacked that certain something...That ruthless, hard-driving ambition that had brought and would keep LeGrand Machinery Works and the new Motor Company to and at the heights...

That killer...literally...instinct...

Still he had Hezekiah with him...A man who would follow any order in his  
service...

Sadly that would have to do...Besides few of the other competitors were likely to  
be much trouble thanks to his selection process...And the "rubber-stamp" Racing  
Commission...

As far as the "Professor" went...She was a danger...But nothing to be done...Well,  
the boy'd just have to deal with her without that special "help" from his father's "unique agents"...They just weren't available in this case...

However...With other agents around the world...And Hezekiah...Surely... Something could be done to ensure Angel's victory...If the damned fool woman actually became a threat...

***  
Miss DuBois had managed the fence with relatively minor damage to her  
clothing...And her camera intact...

The music was still blaring from the main house...But there was an unlit large barn to the left...

Hmmn...The home of the Walthrops' racer perhaps?...She'd just take a quick  
look...Maybe one or two photos...Then over to their front door...

The Walthrops were...Deferring their dinner a bit...

Boy, Buffy-Millie thought...Judging by the way people in the future would talk  
you'd think no one knew how at the turn of the 20th century...

Definitely a misconception...In fact...Must be not having TV or movies to occupy  
one's time...You become...Powerfully focused...

She was trying to make up her mind if she wanted her sweet, ssssweet Will to call her Buffy or Millicent this time when...A tremendous clang of bells came from the outside workshop in the adjacent barn...

They banged heads jumping up and looked at each other...

The Car!...

And ran for the workshop...

Perhaps...Miss DuBois thought...As she swung in the net she'd been trapped in on entering Professor Fate's workshop/garage...Perhaps one could be a bit too forthright...

The bells were clanging as loudly as ever...Surely the Walthrops would eventually come by...And call off the large...Huge...Mastiff who snapped at her from below...

Yes...One could be a bit too forthright...

Walthrop and Buffy-Millie entered...And saw a young Black woman hanging from the booby trap net Buffy-Millie had installed...With Rolf their watchdog doing his duty...Quite happily...

Miss DuBois dazedly saw...A tall, fierce-looking blond young woman, with her  
buck teeth adding a slightly grim touch, arms folded...In a rather frilly and frivolous-looking red nightgown with her even more blonde, slight and short but quite handsome young husband beside her in shirt sleeves...Looking at least, a little more welcoming...

"Professor Fate, I presume?..." she called to her... "I am Madeleine DuBois, of the New York Sentinel..."

Walthrop had called Rolf off and cut their uninvited guest down...

Who did her best to make a profuse apology to the Professor for her  
intrusion...She hadn't been able to raise anyone and...Well...Seeing the light on in the barn...And guessing the Professor's latest was there...

There was no light in the barn...Millicent grimly informed her...And she didn't  
remember posting any signs on their gate that said... "Trespassers welcome"...

Wait..She worked for the New York Sentinel...For Wilhe...er...For Alexander  
Harris?...

Indeed...Miss DuBois told her...

Hmmn...Willow never mentioned anyone being sent out to her...And she couldn't  
imagine her not contacting her...

Still...Instantaneous communication wasn't exactly that yet...

So...Why was she here?...And why poking around her car?...

Seat, Millie...Walthrop nudged her...Having brought over a couple of chairs...

Oh...Right...We're polite early twentieth century here...

"Would you care to have a seat?..." she asked, a shade less grimly...

"Please..." Walthrop smiled at her...

Strange...Buffy-Millie thought...It's almost as if I know her?...But I can't quite  
place her...

Not surprising as her future self was not due to meet the new Slayer, Ms. Basey  
Granger, for another week...

She smiled a bit...Another old friend, perhaps?...If she could just place her...

Then remembering she was in an interrogation, returned to her previous grim  
frown...

She's rather attractive when she smiles...Miss DuBois noted...Not at all like those  
awful photographs...

Walthrop persuaded his wife to be a leetle more gracious...After all, a little good  
publicity never hurts...

And if she is working for dear Wilhe...For dear Alex...She wouldn't want to offend them...

Well...What exactly had Miss DuBois come for?...She asked her...

For a ride, she told her candidly...In the Great Around the World Race...

And of course to meet the famed Professor Fate, intrepid female pioneer...If  
possible to document her triumph...

Hmmn...

Well...Would she like a closer look at the car?...

No photos...She turned to her...As Miss DuBois began looking for her camera...

Yes...Thanks...Beautiful design...Are you sure about the photos?...She asked  
brightly...

"Very sure..." Buffy-Millie told her...Grimly...

Walthrop for his part was a genial host, pointing out some of the less sensitive but still marvelous features of his wife's greatest achievement to date...

Miss DuBois was properly appreciative...

"So you want to observe the Race?...For the Sentinel?..." Walthrop asked her  
pleasantly...

Well...She had hoped to actually enter as a contestant...Just to get the feel of the  
thing...

Admirable...Walthrop told her...But...All alone?...The whole route?...

Buffy-Millie looked at him...Miss DuBois was an extremely attractive  
woman...And clearly intelligent, brave...And forthright...

She...Buffy-Millie...could do that...Race alone around the world...She simply  
chose not to...Solely for the pleasure of his company...Nothing more...

Racing Commission must have had a fit...Walthrop smiled at Miss DuBois who  
returned his smile...

Charming man...Handsome too...For such a lil'feller...

Yes...A fit...She sighed...Which left her in her present situation...

"Well, Millie?..." Walthrop turned to Buffy-Millie... "Think we can help the  
lady?..."

Hmmn...To have this brave young beauty traveling round the world with  
them?...Still, good publicity...But on the other hand...

Miss DuBois peered into the car...Very unusual controls, she noted...What does  
this?...

A tremendous explosion as the front cannon emerged and fired...Twice...Hitting a post beam...

Triggering a chain reaction...

They all managed to escape the collapse...Fortunately the Hannibal Super Twin 8  
lived up to its reputation for sturdiness...

Back in the main house, Walthrop managed to restrain and calm  
Buffy-Millie...Now sweetheart...Car's fine, We're fine...

No harm done, he told an apologetic Miss DuBois...

Hmmn...Buffy-Millie growled...Well...

Dear...Possible friend of your Willow's here...

No...Harm...Done...She said, grimly and reluctantly...

Walthrop fetched them all some tea...

Well...She hoped the accident wouldn't affect their decision too much...

She was very eager to do a proper job for the Sentinel...Justify Mr...And  
Mrs...Harris' confidence...

And they had another mutual acquaintance...Miss DuBois told them both,  
brightly...Mr. Angel LeGrand had spoken very highly of the Professor and her work...

Angel...Angel LeGrand?...

She knew Angel LeGrand?...

Yes, just came from Saratoga actually where she'd seen him and his new...

"I knew it!...GetOut!..." Buffy-Millie raged at her...

Millie...Walthrop looked at her...

"She's in cahoots with him...Willow didn't send her...She's here to sabotage my  
car!..."

Perhaps she'd best be going...Miss DuBois told Walthrop...

The dark side of the Slayer was surfacing in Buffy-Millie...Not a pretty thing to  
see...

Especially with those teeth...

Looking at his fuming wife...Walthrop agreed it might be best...

***  
Buffy-Millie was a little mortified to learn from Willow a week later that she had  
indeed...Well, Alex had indeed...Hired a Miss DuBois...

Well...If Willow really wanted her to go...

But that forthright lady had already made her own arrangements...Persuaded  
Alexander to let her go in a Sentinel car...Alone...At least for as far as she could...To follow the racers...At least unofficially...

Alone...She'd be trying it alone?...Buffy-Millie thought...

Impressive...Very Forthright...

Hmmn...So, I don't have to take her for dear Willow's sake...Eying Walthrop at the breakfast table over Willow's letter...

Phew...

Alexander had his men deliberately pick a light model...One that would break  
down within a few hundred miles of the course at best...

Couldn't let the poor girl get killed...Even in the line of duty...

The fact that she didn't seem to recognize the car's defects suggested to him that he had followed the right course...

Even Willow reluctantly agreed it was safer if she didn't drive too much of the  
course in her own car...

A few hundred miles would be quite sufficient...To get the feel of the race...And  
would be sufficient distance from Xander..Followed by a reasonably adventurous but infinitely more comfortable journey by train and boat...With the other reporters...

Well...Perhaps a segregated train and boat...Without the other reporters...An  
unfortunate reality of travel for 1906...But one she and Miss DuBois would work to rectify...

Miss DuBois had other plans...And in fact was quite aware her car would never  
last...

Stranded out in the great Prairie...One of her gallant fellow competitors was bound to take her along...

[Suggested theme (The Entertainer, Scott Joplin)]

In the end, seven contestants were approved for the Great Around the World  
Race...Including Professor Millicent Fate-Walthrop...

But Millicent...er Buffy...Fate-Walthrop had no intention of facing LeGrand as  
one of several competitors...

She bore no malice towards the others...But...This was between her and Mr.  
LeGrand...

Besides...She'd seen the others...Three were gadflies...No serious technical or  
automotive experience...The other two...Hmphf...Their cars would be luck to make it to Albany...

Including that Miss DuBios...What was Alex thinking letting her take a car like  
that?...

She had no compunctions about speeding their certain eliminations...Harmlessly,  
of course...

Probably doing them a favor...Preventing them from doing serious injury to  
themselves...

Hmmn...William wondered about that...Still...She deserved her chance to take on  
Angel...Alone...

And in his heart he was anxious...And determined...To finally see this thing  
settled...Once and for all...Whatever the outcome...

Even if it might mean losing her...To the world's biggest jackass...

Things had to be settled...Once and for all...

***  
Yet More (Semi) Parallel Lives..."Great Race, 1906"...Part IX

The Great Day had arrived...The Start of the Great Around the World Race...

Starting line...Just before the great Brooklyn Bridge...A fitting place to begin a  
race celebrating Technologic Prowess...

An additional driver was included...At the insistence of the New York  
Sentinel...Or rather at the insistence of Wilhelmina Harris...At the extremely reluctant sufferance of the appointed Race authorities...

Miss Madeleine DuBois, Sentinel reporter...As an observer...

Alex, though still not overwhelmed at the thought...Was glad to have one of his  
reporters on hand...

And, oddly with the support of one Angel LeGrand...Who'd been more impressed  
by the beautiful and intrepid reporter than he might care to admit...

Well...The Race authorities had put their best collective face on the matter...

After all the Sentinel was putting up one third of the costs...And her race need not be mentioned...As she was not an official contestant...

And, if she died along the way...Well...It wasn't as if...

Play...The Angel Le Grand March(Monty Python's Flying Circus)

A large band played "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean..." Orators...Mostly local  
politicos...Harangued the crowds on the glories of the New Technologic  
Century...A moving spectacle...

Standing by the Hannibal Super Twin 8, Professor Fate faced the crowds... Glaring as some louts hooted at her...The rest...Far too busy casting adoring glances at the tent of the Great Angel...And crowding near his gleaming white car...

Two children looked up at the grim-faced woman in black above them...

Who suddenly broke into a delighted smile...As she looked down at  
them...Startling the reporters who'd set up to take a shot of the Wild Witch of the Midwest...

She's really not so bad-looking when she smiles, one noted to the other...

"Moomma..." Little Buffy shrieked happily...

Little Will took up a defensive positive at his mother's right leg...Facing the  
crowd...

She lifted him, tickling him...

He's getting much too serious, she noted...Needs a little more affection in his life,  
she thought, a trifle guiltily...

Like his dad...

Well...Once this thing is over...And I put it all behind me...

Yes...Life in this universe wasn't all so bad...she thought...Grinning over at her  
parents who were standing next to Amelia and Philip...

Especially with William in it...

Who was at the moment...Occupied...

Her parents came over to give her a final hug and best wishes...He was so proud of her, Constantine noted...As she was...Kristine added, hugging her...

Yeah...Life here isn't so bad at all...

Amelia and Phil however were grim...This was a stupid, dangerous thing they  
felt...A waste of Millie's talents...

Chasing after that foolish Mr. LeGrand...Again...

Poor brother Will...

"Where is William?..." her father asked...

Oh...He's finishing up a few loose ends...Buffy-Millie told him...

Amelia grimly consented to a hug...The last hug she ever expected to get from her sis-in-law, she told her...

"I'm not doing this for Angel LeGrand, Melia..." Buffy-Millie told her...

Yeah...She knew...For all women...She'd heard it before...

Actually, I'm doing it for Will and me...Buffy-Millie told her, solemnly...Looking  
in her young sister-in-law's eyes...

To finally put things to rest...And prove something to myself...

Amelia seemed to want to say something to her...But hesitated...

Buffy-Millie kissed her...

Phil manfully restrained himself...And chased after her after she kissed him on the forehead and left for the car...

"Watch out for that fellow..." he told her...Hugging her...Buffy-Millie grinned at  
him...

That doofus...No problem...She told him...Drawing a grin from him...

He liked that slang Millie used...Different...

Like her...

Poor Will was in fact rather busy...Engaged in work he did not fully approve of...

However...He did feel Millie deserved the chance to deal with LeGrand alone...

And to be honest...Something about the work did appeal to him...Exciting  
really...In a nefarious way...

A little touch of Spike drifting in from Buffy's universe...

Wilhelmina and Alex stopped by to give both their racers a proper send-off...

Miss DuBois seemed a little lost in that crowd...Ignored off to one side...But  
intrepid as always...

She assured Mr. Harris she'd get her first story out before the afternoon press...

Willow gave her a large hug and best wishes...She was sure Miss DuBois' journey would be a great success for all Women, she told her...

And headed over to greet her dear Millie...Now engrossed in a final check of her  
Hannibal 8...

Now lined in a row with the other racers...Each slowly coming in from their  
respective garages...

She scanned for the missing Walthrop...He ought to be finished by now...

He was ambling over...A slight, sly grin...

Which she returned...

***  
"Max?..." Buffy-Millie greeted the returned Walthrop...Who paused to give the  
in-laws his best and the chicks their demanded hugs and kisses...

"Everything is ready..." he told her...Grinning sheepishly in spite of himself...

He was getting a little too good at this sort of thing he noted...

The cars were in position...The Governor of the Great State of New York gave the signal...

Play race theme (Raiders of the Lost Ark)  
A gun fired...And the Great Race was on...

For five of the seven racers...And Miss DuBois' little car...

Two stalled dead at the start line...

So much for cars three and six...Walthrop noted slyly...As they sped down to the  
bridge and across...

Car four developed an unfortunate oil leak about ten miles into the race...Ruining  
the motor beyond repair before it was detected...

Just a millionaire's son out for a joyride, really...No great harm done Walthrop  
noted...

Car number two had a slight problem with its transmission system after twenty  
miles...Leaving various parts strewn along the road before coming to a stop...

Another dilettante, Max noted...Probably much better off...

The Walthrops were now in the lead...Of course it was only the first twenty miles  
of the first day...Still...

"Oh...Max...I love you..." she grinned wickedly...

"Next...Car number five..." He couldn't help it...He had to chuckle at this one...So beautiful, she'll love it...

"What...what..."

"The engine falls out..."

"The engine falls out?..." she went into a fit, full snorting mode...Then...

A prominent 5 on the front of the Hannibal...

"Max!...We're car number five!" she looked at him...Raging...

Oops...Hmmn...It had been dark in the garages and he'd rather lost track...

The engine fell out with a sickening clang...The car rolled to a stop...

Car one sped by...And suddenly went off the road...Into a tree...

Fortunately the driver and his companion were unharmed...Although the car...

"Max..." she looked at him, terrified...He didn't?...I mean...I didn't want anyone to be hurt...

"That wasn't supposed to happen..." Walthrop looked at her...Shocked as she...

The number one car groaned and all four tires fell off...Rims and all...

"After they stopped...That was supposed to happen..."

Smoke rose from the Hannibal's hood...

"Fire..." Buffy-Millie yelled, pushing Walthrop out...

He ran to the back of the car and grabbed her latest...A fire extinguishing  
device...Amazing thing...Blew foamy flame-dousing soaps on the fire...Remarkable...He was trying to market it to fire departments...

She had run to the hood...Her baby in danger...

Walthrop dousing the hood before seeing her...

Oops...Covered in the stuff...

"Sorry, dear..."

She glared... But was clearly near tears...Finished before we start...And I look  
worse than usual...

In sympathy he stuck the nozzle in his trousers and gave her the extinguisher  
unit...She pressed the button and grinned...

They were chasing each other around the car when another pulled up...Miss  
DuBois...

Who persuaded them to pose for a photo...What the hell...

Besides...Being stuck for a couple of hours like this would prevent suspicion from focusing on them...

Fortunately the Hannibal was designed for quick repairs in tight situations...The  
engine was back in place and they were on their way before two hours...

Two hours lost...she thought grimly...Max abjectly apologetic...

Well...He was only doing his bit...And against his grain...

A little slap on the wrist from the Powers That Be, she supposed...

On the other hand...With the exception of Miss DuBois...Only she and the Angel  
Special remained now...The others simply could not make repairs in time to keep  
up...Where their cars were not poorly designed to begin with, they were too hand-crafted for easy repair...

Flexibility in design...Ease of repair...The hallmark of the Fate-Walthrop  
Company...

Miss DuBois' car broke down as expected about 500 miles into the  
race...Realizing that it was reaching its last legs she pushed it to its limits and managed to briefly take the lead of the remaining two racers...

Thus putting her in position to intercept them...

She sat in the middle of the road with her carrier pigeons...Vital to maintaining  
communication with her paper over the often wild route...And her camera...

Buffy-Millie spotted her car on the flat road about a quarter mile before they  
would have reached her and deliberately pulled over...Much to Walthrop's surprise...Was there some problem with the car?...

She'd been thinking about Miss DuBois for some time...And Mr. LeGrand... Whose action in helping the lady to overcome the Racing Commission's opposition to her observer status had surprised her...

He liked that Miss DuBois...Buffy-Millie was sure of it... And not surprising... Considering her beauty and charm of manner...Yet...Angel LeGrand was the last person to risk defying Society's conventions for the sake of Romance...

But if he were forced to take her with him...And she had no doubt he would if he  
found her out here in the middle of nowhere...At the very least he'd find it  
difficult to pull anything underhanded...And she suspected that Miss DuBois...And  
her forthrightness...Might very well cause him enough emotional turmoil to tip the  
balance in the Walthrops' favor...

Yes...Somehow she sensed Miss DuBois was the key to defeating Mr. Angel  
LeGrand...

But...She didn't want to leave the poor woman stranded...If by some mischance  
Angel and Hezekiah had diverged from the route...So they waited and watched behind some abandoned farm buildings just off the road...

"Millie?..." Walthrop wasn't sure what it was she was up to...

She simply raised her hand again and signaled for him to be patient...

About a half hour later the Angel Special came along...Miss DuBois, seeing it  
coming around a corner across the distance took up a position beside her luggage, pigeons, and camera...

Flat on the ground...Passed out from heat prostration, no doubt...The poor frail  
lady...

Naturally...The chivalrous hero stopped to assist...

She couldn't help noticing from a corner of her half-closed eye that in spite of the  
dusty roads his car and his clothes remained...As always...Dazzlingly white...

He fetched a canteen from the car...Poor gallant lady...

Fortunately she rallied quickly under his care...

Hezekiah examined her car and pronounced it hopeless...

And a preetty poor choice of car for a race like this, he could tell you...

Her employer's choice she told him...A man...

Well..Regardless, Angel noted...She'd done a fine job getting this far all alone...A  
tribute to the courage of her sex...

And her race...He Saluted her...A true Competitor...

Now of course it was time she acknowledged the situation and accepted that for  
her the race was...

Over?...Hardly she told him fiercely...As she packed her luggage into his car and  
passed the pigeons to Hezekiah...She'd find a way to continue...Somehow...

Even if she had to walk it...

Angel and Hezekiah eyed each other...Somehow...She'd put one over on them they realized...Still they couldn't leave her here...

"All right...We'll take you as far as Boracho...The next gasoline depot...But that's  
all..." Angel told her...

Fine...She smiled at him...He couldn't help smiling back...It was his nature...

Ho, boy...Hezekiah looked at them...Sighing...

This was trouble...Definitely...

Miss DuBois' pigeon-borne dispatches were creating a sensation back in New  
York...Live daily reports from the route regarding the hardships and sights...Not to mention the interest generated when she transferred to the Angel Special...And when it was revealed M. DuBois was a Woman...The romantic possibilities stirred the hearts of millions of adoring Angel fans...Once assured the two were properly chaperoned, of course...

Male as well as female it must be admitted...

However...It was not deemed necessary to mention Miss DuBois' other unique  
feature...

Social Advancement must be taken one step at a time...

But much to Alexander's dismay...The fact that he had hired one female reporter  
did not douse the flames of Woman's ambitions...In fact quite the opposite...

If the Sentinel had hired one female reporter?...And she had been such a  
success?...

Willow was secretly a bit miffed herself...Her Alex had stuck his neck out...What  
more did they want?...After all one had to think of the bottom line...And their conservative clients...

But, as a leading light in New York's suffragette movement...She was forced to  
take a stand...And figured it was best to go with the tide of opinion and hope to control it when the opportunity arose...

The Sentinel was petitioned to take on more women...Strongly petitioned...

Alex was annoyed...He'd done his bit...Why didn't they take on the other papers?...

Willow sympathized in secret but in public worked to maintain the  
pressure...Besides...He could take on a few more women without any real difficulty...He was just being stubborn...

However she did not quite agree with the young lady at their meeting on the 14th,  
a Miss Maculay, who suggested bombing the Sentinel...

She suggested instead they try pickets...A little genteel pressure...

Hmmn...Wife of the owner, several nodded to each other...

Bomb plan sounds better...

Gentle persuasion would win the day...Willow convinced the majority...

The Walthrops had taken the lead and reached Boracho, Arizona Territory...The  
next gasoline dump...And the only one for many miles...

About five miles out from town they were attacked by Indians...Firing guns and  
hollering...

Walthrop had met Indians while with Teddy Roosevelt in the Dakotas...These  
seemed a little...Odd...

Still best to be safe...Buffy-Millie used a special feature of the Hannibal's...A  
smoke-screen...To disburse the savages...

They raced on into town...To find themselves surrounded by a sea of people  
wearing white robes...With hoods...Setting up crosses...

And rather roughly parading a group of weary and rather down at heel-looking  
Indians in their midst...While jeering at them...

The mayor of the town came out to welcome them...

"Youse folks are just in time...We're in the middle of the biggest rally the Klan's  
ever had..."

The...Klan?...Buffy-Millie thought...The Klan...As in KKK?...

Course the mayor informed her happily...We're out to make this here territory all  
white before we become a full state...

Welcome to the early 20th century...

But what about?...The Indians outside town...Attacking...

He chuckled...That...That was just the sheriff and some men out to greet the racers as they came in...Sort of an authentic Western welcome...

Lovely...But why were those other Indians over there...Real ones? Buffy-Millie  
asked him...Being paraded like that?...

"Aw...They're just some Injuns we brought in from the reservation hereabouts for  
the party...We ain't gonna hurt em...Well...Can't say as to what happens after you leave..." the mayor chuckled...

She and Walthrop looked at the Klansmen...Shoving the Indians out of their  
way...A group...Obviously the leaders coming over...

Great...Guests of Honor at KKK Central...

"Really...Thanks...But we have no time for this...Just give us the gasoline and we'll be on our way..." Buffy-Millie told him...

"Now lookee-here...We been planning this here Shindig for months...You want  
your gas...You'll be our Guests of Honor!..."

She looked at the sad-faced Indians...The happy-faced Klansmen were pulling  
their hoods off to mop their brows before they joined the town parade...While having rather unspeakable signs brought up to them...So they were Guests...

Guests of these slimy little...

"Now look, you...Sawed-off little racist..." she glared at him...

"Either you two be our Guests of Honor at our Shindig...Or you'll be our Guests of Honor at a necktie party!..." the mayor told them...

"Citizens of Boracho!..." the mayor called...

"Somebody get a rope!..."

Right up their alley, the Klansmen nodded to each other...

Max and Buffy-Millie looked at each other...

Time to depart moron-land...

She activated the smoke screen and they took off...

Leaving the fuming mayor and his fellow citizens choking...And sorely miffed at  
missing out on their favorite outdoor activity...Nothing like a good Lynching to get a celebration started off right...

Of course as the Klan leader pointed out...The Indians were still available...

Angel arrived with Hezekiah...And his guest ..About two hours later...

The mayor and his Klan friends were a bit...Startled...By Miss DuBois...

But hey...A surprising number of them...In secret...However they had the good  
sense to be discreet...

Still Angel was so charming...And seemed so amenable to their Shindig  
plans...Perhaps...

"This your maid?..." The mayor asked...

The Klansmen leaned close...Girl seemed a little too...

Even the mayor was concerned...There weren't any other Great Racers left...

If his friends took care of these...The celebrations would be rather abruptly over...

Hezekiah looked at the Boss...How's about a quick pullout?...The gas can wait...

Miss DuBois thought fast...And sighed...

There's a time for forthrightness and there is a time for...

"Maid?...Right...Sure...Maid..." she told them...Grimly...

She didn't seem like any black maid he knew...One of the Klansmen noted to his  
friends...

Easterners...He noted...

Could she be a little more?...Maidish...Hezekiah whispered to her...

Maidish?...

Yeah...Black maidish...You know...With the "sho...nuff" and so on...

Ah...No, this is as Maidish as I get...She informed him...

Angel's persuasive oratory won the more uncertain in the white robed group over...

The crowd relaxed...

At Angel's polite hint...The Klansmen pulled discreetly out of sight...

For the future good of Boracho...And the Arizona Territory...National and World  
press attention and all that goes with it he noted to the mayor...

Best to avoid anything that might possibly be taken the wrong way...Tarnish the  
image of the...Sure to be...Western Chicago...

The Klan leader, a practical man with large real estate holdings in town, accepted  
Angel's considered judgment...

Within a few minutes the robes had vanished...

And a very shaken Indian chief from the local reservation been brought forward to welcome the Great Racers...Symbolizing Boracho's tolerant and civilized state...A true City on a Hill...

Unfortunately the Walthrops still needed the gasoline...

So they hid the car in a ravine a few miles outside town and put together disguises with some stolen clothes...Creeping back into town about an hour later...

Play "The Boracho Reel"  
To the palatial Golden Angel Saloon...Fitting place for the reception for the Great Angel and his assistant...And their...Guest er...Maid...The place properly decked out and open to all for this grand affair...Even ladies welcome...

Of a certain variety...

Buffy-Millie spotted a saloon-girl...Just about the right size...And followed her  
into the ladies room...

Max took a less criminal route...The barkeep needed all the extra help he could get tonight...

And, much to her surprise, he had tended bar on occasion...Well, pub...Back in  
England...

Hidden talents, my feller...She noted...As she kept by the bar...In her borrowed  
outfit...

She looked...She really looked...In that dress...Walthrop noted...

She looked at him...Tongue on upper lip, smiling slyly...Not half bad, eh...

Not really all that different from some things Buffy used to...Will...Wear...She  
noted to herself...

"I could keep it, you know..." she grinned at him... "I paid her for it..."

Please do...

Angel was making a brief but charming speech to his dear hosts...The Good  
Citizens of Boracho...The next...Sure to be...Chicago...Of the West...

A rather attractive young lady presented him with the Keys to the City...Well,  
future City...

And kissed him...

Several times...

Boracho's own Katie O'Shaughnessy...Singer extraordinaire...

Among her other talents...The mayor noted to Hezekiah and Miss DuBois...

Who in view of the large number of formerly white-robed gentlemen was  
keeping a lowered profile and continuing a somewhat less forthright approach...

Though she was clearly not too pleased with Boracho's own Katie's attentions to  
the future City's Guest of Honor...

***  
"Why that slicker would get his... If Texas Jack were here..." A tall fellow  
grumbled, watching Angel receiving Miss Katie's fervent attentions...

The Walthrops looked at each other...Hmmn...

"Pardon me...Mister Pardner...Who is this here...Texas Jack?" Max  
asked...Polishing his counter...

"Texas Jack?" the man looked at him incredulously... "Why he's the roughest, the toughest, the meanest gunslinger west of the Mississippi..."

"Katie's...His girl..." the man stated firmly...Looking at Angel with the young  
lady...

"Katie's his girl..." Buffy-Millie looked at Max wickedly...

"Beautiful..." Max replied...

A drunken cowboy came up to the bar...Grabbing Buffy-Millie...

"Come on honey...Les hav a dance..."

Glad to...Later...

Honey...she told him...

He was not pleased...And was persistent...Not to mention...Armed...

"Wanta a lil' kiss..."

She rolled her eyes...

He waved his gun in the air...

Hmmn...Maybe a lil' hug...Honey...she told him...

Max watched nervously...But continued on the subject of the rough and tough Mr. Jack with the annoyed gentleman...

"Where might one find this here...Texas Jack?..." he asked him...

"He's got a spread just ten miles south of town...The Lazy K...For Katie..." the man informed him...

Hmmn...

Buffy-Millie might lack Slayer strength...However she still remembered her Slayer training...

And nailed her dance partner where it counted...He was down for the count...

Neatly done, Max told her...She nodded, bowing slightly...Ta-dah...

Now...As to this Mr. Jack...

There was in fact no need to search for the legendary Texas Jack...

The sounds of his trademark gunfire in the large hall quickly revealed that he had  
arrived...A bit miffed at not being invited...And at seeing his girl...Occupied...

***  
"Hells Bells...I am Texas Jack!..." Jack fired at the hall chandelier...

"And I am the roughest, the toughest, the meanest gunslinger in the West!..."

They usually are...Thought Buffy-Millie...

Wasn't he Teddy's old valet?...Back in the Dakotas?...Walthrop wondered, looking at Mr. Jack...

Angel turned to see the fellow who'd interrupted his speech...

An unheard of occurrence...

***  
Katie did what she could to calm her short-tempered fiancee...

Who rather rudely shoved her down...

Angel LeGrand does not stand for such treatment of the Fairer Sex...

He suggested that Mr. Jack had...Forgotten himself...

If he'd immediately apologize to the lady...No harm done...

Mr. Jack's reply was, of course, unacceptable...And unprintable...

Hezekiah, followed by Miss DuBois, came down to the floor beside the Boss...

Looked like trouble...

Jack insisted that the Great Angel was a woman-stealing !#$%ing,*&%$ing,  
#$%ing #$%&!...And must meet him in the street...Immediately...

"He's Teddy Roosevelt's old valet, John...I'm sure of it...Those are Teddy's old  
oaths..."

Walthrop told Buffy-Millie...Who was watching the two men with great  
expectation...

Angel suggested Mr. Jack might want to rectify his lack of manners...And  
apologized to the Citizens of Boracho for this uncouth display...

The Citizens having taken up good viewing positions...This promised to be much  
more interesting than the planned Shindig...

Jack took advantage of Angel's turn to the crowd to take his first swing...Which  
unfortunately landed on Miss Katie who was interposing herself between the two in desperate hopes of avoiding an incident sure to compromise her performance at Boracho's greatest affair ever...

Angel quietly asked Hezekiah to remove his coat...And requested that Miss  
DuBois leave the...

Jack swung again...Missing Angel yet again as he stepped out of the coat Hezekiah was taking...

And again hitting a lady...This time Miss DuBois...

His boys from the ranch came down to the floor in loyal support of their  
employer...

Offended by the discrepancy in numbers...And the insult to Boracho's Guest of  
Honor...A number of Good Citizens now took the floor as well...

A landmark in the history of Social Advancement...Klansmen coming to the  
defense of a young black woman...

The fight was soon in full swing...Somehow...Angel avoided every blow while  
landing many...

And made continued calls for peace...Appealing to the Good Citizens for calm...

The fight spread over to the bar counter where Max and Buffy-Millie had been  
watching with unabashed glee...

"Did this sort of thing happen much with you and Teddy?..." Buffy-Millie asked  
Max...

On occasion he told her...Whacking a ruffian who'd grabbed Buffy-Millie and  
spun her around over the head with a bottle...

Thank you sweetie...She told him...

"How about your Slayer days, dear?..." he asked her... "You must have seen worse than this..."

Well...Preeety close...Never quite so many...She noted...

A couple of chairs flew over Max and shattered the large mirror behind him over  
the bar...

Hmmn...Might be a good time to consider...

Two struggling contenders staggered over, locked in each others' grip...One swung blindly...

Oops...Max ran out to the unconscious Buffy-Millie...

Yes...Leaving would be a good idea...And the gasoline must be unguarded by  
now...

Coming to...She groggily agreed...She felt her teeth...None broken...

Rats...Orthodontic surgery was so dangerous and so primitive she had chosen not  
to risk trying it...But one could always hope...

Texas Jack staggered over towards the bar...The fight had long since passed him  
and Angel by...

He recognized Mr. Walthrop immediately...And reverted to his old manners once  
back in Polite Society...

"Very pleased to renew acquaintance, sir...And you miss..."

"You know, John...Mr. Roosevelt might find your new line a bit..."

Circumstances, sir...He'd chosen to remain in the great new Western country and  
establish himself after his years with Mr. Roosevelt in the Dakotas...

And in this rather wild country...One must maintain a certain...Reputation...Or else one is lost...

Buffy-Millie could sympathize...

But...He'd done quite well here...Had a successful business outside town...And  
was engaged to be married to the lovely young women whose performance had been interrupted...

Surely that interruption could not have been pleasing to the young lady?...

A few more chairs flew their way past them...

More Good Citizens were entering the fray from outside...

Ah, well, Jack noted...Rather necessary to maintain the image...Can't let her be  
wooed by an experienced Easterner...Without a protest...

Bad for the reputation out here...he noted... And ducked carefully to avoid a large  
bottle tossed at him...

Katie fought her way through the crowd...To join her intended...With whom she  
was...A bit miffed...

Especially seeing that he had chosen to put on his city manners for a barkeep and  
girl...Rather odd girl for the saloon variety...

"Jack...What's the idea of ruining my show?..." she hollered... "And belting  
me?..."

He was apologetic...Had to maintain that Texas Jack rep, dear...We'd be driven out of the ranching business in a week otherwise...As for the belting...He'd been swinging at Mr. LeGrand...

She decked him one...Hmmn, Buffy-Millie thought...Nice form there...

However, in the interests of the family business...Katie dragged him quietly out of sight and revived him before anyone could see the famed TJ brought low...

Noting a few fighters were looking his way...Mr. Jack briefly reverted to  
character...

"Wants to get me some Fightin' Room...!" he bellowed...

And politely nodding to the Walthrops...He hoped they'd drop by sometime...Katie was doing a marvelous job with the house...Re-entered the fight...

From the center of the fight on the main floor, Hezekiah had recognized the Walthrops as Max helped his wife to her feet...Fortunately for them he did not recognize the fist coming at him from the side as he stared at them...

However they could see that Miss DuBois was making her way through to him...

They hurried out as Miss DuBois revived the stricken Hezekiah...

***  
Yet More (Semi) Parallel Lives..."Great Race, 1906"...Part X

"Pardon me..." Angel nodded politely, helping a woman to her feet as two chairs  
flew over his head...

"Boss..." Hezekiah, helped by Miss DuBois, came over to him... "The Walthrops  
are here...I just saw Professor Fate...Over by the bar..."

Angel frowned...Millie here?...

More Good Citizens were entering the fray...Now fighting with each other...

Angel and co began making their way through the wildly fighting crowd...A  
difficult task under the circumstances...

He paused to take a swing at a bottle-totting fellow...Unfortunately Miss DuBois  
chose to "help" at the same time...Clunking Le Grand with her own bottle...And, the bottle-totter staggering away, clobbered Angel in turn with a chair leg...

She and Hezekiah managed to drag Angel out of the crowd to the door...

The Walthrops found the gas storage area attended only by two guards...Who left  
at once at the prospect of seeing the great fight at the Golden Angel...

They quickly loaded as much gas as they could carry onto the car...

Buffy-Millie grabbed two of her foaming fire extinguishers...

She sprayed foam around the area of the remaining gasoline cans...And returned to the car...

"What are you doing?..." Walthrop asked...

"Putting a crimp in our friend's style..." she grinned...

"Wouldn't want to set the whole town on fire..."

Oh...He looked at her...When she's good...She's very good...But when she's  
bad...Watch out...

"You may push the button, Max..." she informed him, grandly...

The front cannon popped out and fired on the stacked tanks, setting off a  
tremendous explosion...

Back at the Golden Angel, Angel and his companions heard the sound of the  
blast...It could only be one thing...

"The gasoline!..." Angel cried, looking at the others...

The fire was contained by the foam and the Walthrops sped out of town before  
anyone could reach the scene...

***  
The Walthrops paused about a mile out of town to look back at Buffy-Millie's  
handiwork...

"Well...So much for the Great Angel..." Max noted happily...

"No..." Buffy-Millie noted, frowning... "Not Angel, never Angel...He'll think of  
something...But we'll be in Alaska before he does..."

"You are keeping that dress, right?..." Max looked at her...Looking so...In that  
saloon-girl's dress...

Really so...

Uh-huh...Absolutely...She grinned at him...

They sped on...

A rather humiliating sight...The Angel Special...Towed by a team of oxen...

On its way to the only railhead in a hundred miles...McDougall...

But...Before they left Boracho...It was time for Miss DuBois to part from  
them...On the first available stagecoach...

Given the potential for "trouble" Angel felt they should at least see that she made  
the coach without the attention or interference of Boracho's Klan guests...

"Why can't you take me to McDougall?...I could at least catch the train there..."  
Miss DuBois pointed out...

Hezekiah had the feeling Miss DuBois would find an equally valid reason to be  
taken along the entire rest of the race route...And said so...Irritating her...But after all her coming along...Preventing him from using his "special" talents...If they should be required...

Not exactly what his senior employer...Hercule LeGrand...Would approve of...

Not to mention the distractive effect her presence was having on his young boss...

Angel was equally anxious that Miss DuBois part from them...A hundred miles  
across the desert...Pulled by oxen...Was no ride for a delicate woman...

Besides...He himself was beginning to note the distractive effect Miss DuBois was having on him...

Hmmn...Not that he himself shared some of Society's more...Unfortunate... Prejudices...But...

It would hardly enhance the popular image of Angel LeGrand to be found with a  
Miss DuBois in his train...

"Well...What do you propose to do once you get to McDougall?...You'll have to  
wait a week to get a new shipment of gasoline in...After losing a week crossing the desert to get there..."

"Yes...But since Professor Fate destroyed the Boracho gasoline depot we hardly  
have a choice do we?...And there's no direct rail or communication with McDougall...At least none faster than our oxen here..." he pointed out...

Well...Suppose...Just suppose...There was a faster means of communication to  
McDougall...Say one that would allow the gasoline to be ordered, ready and waiting when they got there...It would save him...Say...Roughly...At least a week...Wouldn't it?...she asked...Brightly...

Certainly...But...

She looked eloquently at her cage of carrier pigeons...And back at him...

"All right...You order the gasoline...We'll take you to the railhead at  
McDougall...But that's all...The end..." Angel told her firmly...

Deal...She grinned and prepped one of her pigeons...

Hezekiah rolled his eyes...We'll never get rid of her at this rate...

Well...Lets hope the Walthrops are having some troubles...Hmmn...Maybe I can  
get a message out at McDougall...To some of our people further along the route...Or Mr. Hercule himself...

Time to play a little hardball with the dear Professor...

"We Want JOBS! We Want JOBS!" The picketers railed at Alexander as he  
picked his way through to the Sentinel building...

Several dozen were scattered through the office corridors...Sitting in front of  
offices...

He stopped a couple of his printers from tossing one aside from their print room  
door...Gentlemen, ladies present...

And reached his office...Where Willow sat with several others...Firmly planted at  
his door...

He sighed...How long was this going to go on?...

"Capitulate Alex!..." Willow told him...

"Never!..." he told her firmly... "My newspaper bows to no pressure...From  
anyone..."

Willow couldn't help being proud...Alex was being so resolute...

But she had her duty...And resumed the chant...

"We Want JOBS! WeWant JOBS!"

He walked over them and entered his office...

She knocked a moment, remembering she had something to tell him...

"Yes...Oh, what is it, dear?..." he poked his head out...

"Don't forget we have a dinner engagement tonight, Alex?...For six-thirty..."

"Yes, dear..."

"Wear your blue suit...And don't forget to pick up some flowers...And remember  
to call the doctor about little Willow's appointment next week...I'm going to be tied up here for the day..."

"Yes, dear..."

"And eat lunch...Something wholesome...You look tired..." she kissed him...

"Yes, dear..."

He was called back inside by a nervous Warren...

"Alex?..." she looked at him...

"Yes, dear?..." he asked, looking at her blankly...Oh...He kissed her...And went  
back..

She smiled a bit guiltily at her comrades...Just a little personal stuff...Nothing to  
do with the Cause...

"We Want JOBS!" she shouted...With the others...

At McDougall, the stationmaster cast a startled eye at Miss DuBois as she sat in the  
Angel Special...As did several townspeople who'd come over to see the beautiful  
automobile...Towed in by oxen...

Angel pleasantly requesting that he proceed with the release of his gasoline...  
And consider the benefits of minding his own business...

The stationmaster shrugged..."You M. DuBois?..."

"I'm M. DuBois..." Miss DuBois called cheerily as she emerged from the car.

Uh-oh...Hezekiah thought...Something's up...

Sign here, the stationmaster told her...She smiled angelically at LeGrand...

"Excuse me..." she asked the stationmaster, turning a pleasant smile to  
him...  
"What happens if I don't sign?..."

Gas goes back of course...The stationmaster stared at her.

I knew it!...Hezekiah fumed...Angel glared at his passenger...Why Miss DuBois?...

"Well, Mr. LeGrand?..." she paused...Resuming her angelic smile

This is simple blackmail, Miss DuBois...Angel noted angrily...

I get what I want, Mr. LeGrand...she noted...And continuing the Race to Alaska is what I  
want and intend to get...

Angel hesitated, looking at Hezekiah...  
She's got us...His look said

"Look...Lady..." the stationmaster glared at them..."You gonna sign or  
no...?"

Miss DuBois looked eloquently at Angel...

Ok...Boys...Load her back up...The stationmaster called to his men...

Angel looked sheepishly at the fuming Hezekiah...We've no choice...

"Either she goes...Or I do..." Hezekiah glared at Miss DuBois...And stalked off to  
the waiting train...

Angel glared at Miss DuBois...Who wore a sheepish expression...Which did not  
match the feeling in her heart...

Miss DuBois was apologetic...Let her go on board...Speak to Hezekiah...She'd get him to stay...

Angel nodded, annoyed...

***  
"Well...Hezekiah..." Miss DuBois had found him...Sitting in the second  
car...Grimly staring out the window...

"Please listen...You must know how much this means to me..." she began...

"A deal's a deal..." he said firmly...

A passing conductor glared at Miss DuBois...This was not her car...Her car...Was  
back there...

Just bringing a note to my boss' assistant...she smiled pleasantly at the angry  
conductor...Who glared at Hezekiah...

Hezekiah gallantly told the conductor to mind his business and shove off...If he  
didn't want to leave the train via the window...

The conductor went off, muttering...

"Are you on this train?..." Hezekiah looked at Miss DuBois...Who thought quick  
and sighed...

Yes...She told him...She'd decided to head back...She'd never want to be the cause of a spit between two such good friends as Angel and Hezekiah...

Friendship...Was the most important thing in the world, she noted...After  
love...And she was not the sort of woman who came between male friends...She looked at him carefully...

She hoped he realized that...

Hezekiah was apologetic...He'd never meant to suggest anything...Improper... Was...He looked at an overly attentive fellow passenger... "Yer want somethin' jackass?"...Going on between her and Mr. LeGrand...It was just...The Race was no place for such a gentle lady as Miss DuBois...Any delicate lady...

"Well...Perhaps...You're right...Well...So I guess this is goodbye..." she smiled...

Oh...The gasoline?, he asked...

"I signed for it...Mr. LeGrand is having it loaded now..."

Oh...Hezekiah removed his hat...Apologizing profusely...Well...She was quite a  
lady, he noted...

Hoped they'd all meet again...Maybe at the end of the Race in Paris...

Maybe she told him...And gave him a peck and a hug...And concealing her face in her handkerchief...Overcome by emotion, he guessed...Headed back through the cars...

The train pulled out...Angel watched the cars roll by one-by-one, gathering speed...

Miss DuBois stood alone on the platform...

He looked at her...She sighed, shrugging shoulders...

Where's...

"Ummn...Well..." Miss DuBois looked at the sky a moment, a pretty white cloud  
floating over Angel's pretty white head... "Ummn...He said...He'd had enough... He didn't think you were going to win anyway...So he decided to head back to New York..."

"Hezekiah decided to head back?...Without another word?..."

Miss DuBois reminded Angel that Hezekiah had been preety determined when he  
stormed aboard the train...

He stared at her...Something definitely wrong here...

She hopped in the car...Several louts standing around looking at her...A mild  
shock in their faces...

"I think we'd better be going..." she indicated the bystanders... "And every moment is another mile for Professor Fate..."

Angel got in the car still looking at her...She kept an innocent expression on her  
face...And they headed off...

"Hey...Conductor!" Hezekiah screamed...As he struggled with the handcuffs  
Miss DuBois had slipped on his wrist and the seat frame...For her kit of handy items Willow had thoughtfully provided...In case she had to deal with any unsavory types out on the route...

"Lying, schemin' female..." He saw the Angel Special pulling out through his  
window...

"Hey!..Boss!...Conductor!"


	2. Chapter 2

Yet More (Semi) Parallel Lives... "Great Race, 1906"...Part XI

Suggested Race Theme (Raiders of the Lost Ark)

Despite a comfortable lead through California to Oregon, all was not well for the Walthrops...

Buffy-Millie had explained her thinking on Angel and Miss DuBois to William at length...

While he agreed that it made sense...Angel was the type to fix onto any female who held him at  
arms length...Her detailed understanding of Angel's...Both LeGrand's and that alternate universe  
fellow's...mental processes in the field of lovemaking raised uncomfortable questions in his  
mind...

The same old ones, actually...

***

"Well, Warren?..." Alexander watched his chief editor as he inched toward the cooing carrier  
pigeon on the fourteenth floor ledge of the New York Sentinel Building...

The sounds of the protesters in the hallway outside his office filtered through to Alex...

Still demanding the immediate employment of more females by the Sentinel...Stridently...  
As if his wasn't one of the first major newspapers to employ a female reporter...Outside the  
society column that is...

Fourteen stories below others were marching round the building...Signs waving...

"Almost, Boss...Just another...Got him!..." Warren called in triumph...

Several women looked overhead from their protest...Was that man trying to?...Others followed  
suit...The protest was temporarily disrupted...

Willow Harris, now on outside march duty, likewise looked up...What the?...Oh, my...

Was that Alex by the window?...Had they shattered his nerves?...

He had been looking a little...lately...Nope...Just that fool Warren Mears...But was he going to?...

Hmmn...A potential job vacancy...Surely Alex couldn't offer an objection to filling such a  
sudden vacancy with one of the protesters...Especially when it would detract from any minor  
scandal that idiot Warren caused...

A perfect solution...One that could be used to satisfy the protesters...At least for the  
moment...And that would minimize the upset of their conservative clients...Who would  
appreciate the need to detract from scandal with an attention-getting scheme...  
"Has it got Ms. DuBois' dispatch?...Come on, man!...Well?..." Alex was exasperated...Warren  
was clearly more concerned about his personal safety, feeling his way carefully back along the  
ledge...

"Ummn...I think I see it...Just a mo, Boss..."

"Think!..." Alex roared... "I want that dispatch...This paper needs that dispatch...Warren...Is that  
bird carrying my dispatch from Ms. DuBois or not?...Take a look and if it's not the bird...Go  
back..."

"It's...the right...One..." Warren teetered on the ledge as the bird flapped around in his hands...

He edged his way slowly to the window...Alex eagerly grabbing the bird from him...

"Alex?..." Willow called from below, seeing a second man reaching out to Mears...It looked like  
his office...

Surely he wasn't taking any foolish chances rescuing that moron?...A husband and father...

"ALEX!" she called...No good, too far...

He had gone back inside, thank goodness...

Best to go up and check things out, though she thought...

The dispatch was indeed Ms. DuBois' latest...The Angel Special, reloaded with gasoline, was  
again underway...Heading up through California in pursuit of Millie and Will...

Ms. DuBois discretely failing to mention that she and Mr. LeGrand were no longer properly  
chaperoned...

Mears was re-entering via the window cautiously...

"Warren!..." Alex shouted...A scream from the window ledge...

"This latest dispatch must ...Warren?...Warren?..." he looked out the window...

Mears had fallen about four stories and was hanging desperately on to an awning...

"Mears?...You all right?..." Alex hollered down to him...

"Yeah...Boss, Help!..." Warren called feebly...

Willow knocked at the door...Which being unlocked she entered...

Her fellow protesters looking at her, a bit suspiciously...

Personal matters, she informed them...Shutting the door behind her...

"Alex...What's going on?..."

"Ah, Willow...Mears has gone and gotten himself stuck on some ledge..." Alex told her...

She came to the window...Oh...So, no vacancy...

Warren grabbed desperately at the awning...Some workers in the office on the tenth floor noticed  
him and began shouting at him...

Some fool vaudevillian...Like that Houdini character...Well...This was a place of business...No  
time for nonsense like this...A couple threw cigar butts at him...

"Mears!..." Alex hollered down to Warren... "Stop dawdling around and get back up  
here...We've got to get a Special Edition out immediately...The Angel Special is back in the  
race..."

"Help!..." Warren screamed...His grip slipping on the awning...

Hmmn...Thought Willow...Maybe that vacancy will be available after all...

***  
A mining camp...Where men were men...Turn of the twentieth century frontier men...Generally  
drunken, turn of the twentieth century frontier men...And women kept as far away as  
possible...With the exception of a few residing in what passed for the nearby town...And even  
they...Experienced as they were...Preferred not to venture into the camp itself...Unless heavily  
armed...

Low on water, the Walthrops saw no reason not to stop at the first inhabited place they'd seen for  
a hundred miles...Unfortunately, the camp was just south of the town...With the result that the  
Hannibal Super Twin 8 chugged into camp...

Walthrop, rather experienced in the ways of turn of the twentieth century frontier men,  
recognized immediately they had made a serious misjudgment in selecting this place for a water  
stop...

Buffy-Millie however saw no reason not to get their water here...After all, she was the  
Slayer...And packing a medium-weight cannon...Which ought to make up for some of her lost  
strength...

Several large specimens lumbered over to the car...

Walthrop suggested she let him speak to them...

What?...Let him speak to them?...And sit primly still?...Like some little moronic nineteenth  
century Nora?...

"I am Professor Millicent Fate..." Buffy-Millie told them, ignoring Walthrop's nervous look...

"We're competing in the Great Around the World Race and we'd like to get a little water for  
ourselves and our car..."

They looked at her...And at little Walthrop...And started to smile...

Somehow...It was the sort of smile that made Buffy-Millie feel that a temporary regression to  
retiring turn of the twentieth or well, perhaps even, nineteenth century womanhood would not be  
so bad an idea...

That was...If these fellows had any regard for retiring early twentieth or even nineteenth century  
womanhood...It was not appearing to be the case...

One of the men, Mike by name, appeared to be a leader of sorts...Tall, heavy-muscled, and  
brutal-looking...Very tall, very heavily-muscled, very, very brutal-looking...

His smile was by far the most threatening...

"You're lookin' for water, little lady?..." he leered at her...And grinned wolfishly to his mates...

For him...Millie actually was slightly on the small side...

"Round here...We pay for our water...Hard to get...Ya know?..." Another leer...

The men crowded in...

"We'd be happy to pay..." Walthrop put in...

"Money..." Mike spit and smiled... "Money, we got... Just had a good strike yesterday...But..."

He looked rather eloquently...For such a brutal- and fierce-looking fellow...At Buffy-Millie...

Hmmn...Buffy-Millie thought...

How the West was really won...

Despite the fact that it is always nice to have...Admirers...she told them...

"Think we'll be...Leaving..." she started the car...  
The men blocked their way...Too close to the car to run at them...Or run them down...

One hopped in and grabbed the starter key...

"Gentlemen...My wife and I are in quite a hurry...Have you heard of our race around the  
world?..." Max asked politely...

Buffy-Millie was considering...Firing the cannon and blasting a hole through the miners was an  
option but not a good one without the starter key...

She decided to opt for the retiring turn of the twentieth century lady approach...

"Gentlemen...My husband is quite right...We're in very serious danger of falling behind...Could  
you possibly help us?..."

"Well...Little lady...Why don't you come out here?..." Mike forced the door open, grabbing  
her...As she clawed at him...And a couple of others hurled Walthrop out and on the ground...  
"And we'll talk it...Hey!..." He grabbed his cheek where she'd scratched it...Throwing her to the  
ground...

The others laughed...Mike was experiencing a socially embarrassing moment...Which, in this  
place usually was detrimental to one's life expectancy...

A suitable recovery was an immediate necessity...He turned to William...Who was up and  
gripped by two of his larger brutes...

Buffy-Millie was now likewise held and Mike had them both dragged back to where the crowd of  
men could form a ring...

Max was rather familiar with this means of a local leader reasserting his authority...Both from  
England and his previous American experiences...

Buffy-Millie was catching on fast...Not hard to see how Spike had acquired his fighting skills in  
the nineteenth century of Buffy's universe...

"Let my husband go..." she hollered, struggling with the two holding her...

They did...Unfortunately...Into the ring of men...Which she and her restrainers now stood inside...

"I'm gonna carve me up a goose..." Mike leered at Walthrop...Brandishing a rather effective-  
looking large carving knife...

"After I'm dead, dear...Please kill him before you continue the race..." Max asked her...

A pleasure, honey...She assured him...  
"Excuse me, sir...What weapons are we using?..." Max asked Mike...

The men forming the ring grinned...

"What'ya think ya fool?...This is a miner's fight..." Mike waved his knife...

"Use whatever ya got..." he grinned at his mates...

"Can I grab...Something from our car?..." Max asked...

Mike looked at him suspiciously...But the men looked at little Walthrop and nodded...

Little dude bastard has guts...

"You've got to let him have something..." Buffy-Millie called out...

Appealing to the nobler sentiments of the Old West...A distressed wife and mother...

Not much use in this case...But...They were anxious to see a good and bloody fight...Not a quick  
stabbing and gutting ...So...If it would even the odds...

They brought William over to the Hannibal...

No guns...Mike insisted...

He would never consider taking such an advantage, Walthrop told him politely...As two men  
stood watching him as he rooted around the car interior...

Buffy-Millie considered...And looked around at her captors...If Max was to blow Mike's head off  
with the front cannon...It might give her just enough cover...

But no, they were watching him as he looked around the steering column...And he quickly moved  
to the rear of the car...

Oh?...He's not really gonna go through with this, is he?...Buffy-Millie wondered...

Max, can the Victorian chivalry and blow his head off...As soon as possible...

Rats...The two with him in the car were now blocking him from the controls...

"William?...Don't fight him..." Buffy-Millie looked at him...

"Not much option, dear..." he called back...

***  
Mike, never a patient man, was not about to make an exception for his next victim...

Walthrop begged another minute's indulgence...He was sure he had something...Down here...He  
reached into a wooden box on the rear floor...No, our lunch...Ah...He reached under the seat...A  
metal box...

Buffy-Millie felt a profound sense of satisfaction...

She recognized that box...A little extra protection...

Max waved a medium-sized Bowie knife...

Max?...When did you get one of those?...

And why didn't you grab one of my hand grenades you idiot?... she thought...

"William?..." she called nervously... "Did you find everything ok?..."

All set he called back...

Ready, he told Mike...Showing his knife...About a third of the size of Mike's...

Which inspired a jolly laugh on Mike's part...And subsequently, the rest...

That thing?...

Mike, laughing, turned to his mates...

Walthrop tossed a small hand grenade at Mike's lower section...

Naturally, Buffy-Millie had no intention of marketing this little item...But considering the  
potential dangers of the trip for a young mother and father...

***  
On the one hand, they had killed a man, Buffy-Millie had to admit...However, it had been self-  
defense...

And she rather resented the idea of Mike taking such advantage of William...Nearly two feet  
taller, a hundred pounds heavier, and not even allowing him proper choice of weapons and time  
to prepare...

No, it might be true that her counterpart, Buffy would have had a leetle trouble with Mike's  
end...But hey, this was the turn of the twentieth century, the old and extremely rough West, and  
an alternate universe to boot...She'd not lose too much sleep over dear old Mike...Especially as  
his death had deprived her of the pleasure of getting to know him better...Physically...  
And spared her dear William...

Actually, when all things were considered she didn't think her counterpart would have had all  
that much trouble with it...

Thanks to Max's manipulations of the starter they'd had no trouble getting underway as the  
miners scattered after Mike met his lamentable demise...

Her displaying of the front cannon had ended any thoughts of preventing their departure on the  
part of the other miners...

Max, to her surprise, however, was troubled...

It seemed unsportsmanlike...Even, well...Ungentlemanly...To have blown one's opponent's  
bottom half off with explosives...

"Would you prefer to have had your lower half cut off with his knife?...It wasn't you who started  
this..." Buffy-Millie pointed out...

Still...Now she was vaguely troubled...Was she getting a little too...Turn of the twentieth century  
callous?...

They might well end up like that psycho couple in that film...That future film, she corrected...

Natural-Born Killers?...Yeah that was it...

And she a mother...

Did she...She asked Walthrop as they sped along...Seem to be getting...A little...Cold?...

No...Dear...he sighed...

She looked at him for a second...What the?...

"He was trying to kill you, William...It's terrible but don't be too morose about it..." she patted  
his hand...Eyes on the road...

Something wrong here...And not just regarding the recent act of manslaughter...

"Your sentiments do you credit, sweetheart...You know your counterpart, Spike?..." she told him

"He wouldn't have spent a moment worrying about it...Even after my sister redeemed him..." she  
flashed a smile...

Walthrop muttered something unprintable about his alternate universe counterpart...  
Hmmn...

"Will...If I seem callous about this..." Buffy-Millie took on a worried tone...

"We got out...You're back in the race...Lets not go on about it..." William sighed...A little  
grimly...

Definitely something weighing on his mind...

Can't just be Miner Mike she thought...Still...

"You're a noble soul, Max..." she told him...

"Thanks..." he said...Shortly...

"LeGrand couldn't begin..." she started...

He glared at her...

"Tell it to Angel...Both of them..." And grimly covered his face with his hat and claimed to be  
going to sleep...

Oh...Oops...

"Will?..." she grinned at him quickly... "Are you by any chance jealous of Angel?...Either  
one?..."

Trying to sleep here...he noted...

She felt rather guilty...And tried again...

"Will...You know I don't give a fig for him...And his counterpart is long gone..."

"And he wasn't the one for me either..." she added hastily...While dodging a large animal  
hopping across the road...A rutted wagon trail, actually...

That's nice...He noted...I'm going to sleep now...

However...He did have to point out...We do seem to be going to a great deal of effort to show up  
someone you don't care about...

And I've just killed so you could continue doing so...

He firmly settled back down to sleep...

Oh...She was quiet...Well, he'll get over this mood...

He always does...she thought...Hopefully, eyes on the road...

But...Poor Will...My poor sweet...Shame he had to go though that...

Wish I'd just blown that first miner's head off when they came round the car...

He's got to get over this obsession with Angel though...

***  
The object of Walthrop's obsession was at this moment engaged in the most trying struggle of  
his life...

Between his usual practical attitude regarding relationships with the fairer sex...Based primarily  
on self-interest...

And his growing interest in the forthright Ms. DuBois...Who was definitely not a woman with  
whom a long-term relationship would be in his self-interest...

However...In the short term...Especially far from any snooping reporters or angry fans...

But...He sensed instinctively that she would not permit the kind of short-term relationship he had  
in mind...At least not unless it was on her own terms...

Which Buffy-Millie had been counting on...

He had prepared their first unchaperoned meal...At the campsite they'd chosen in California after  
stopping the night of the day Ms. DuBois had secured her ride to Alaska...

"Mock turtle soup...Canned, I must apologize..." he noted...

"Wild quail...And...champagne, of course..." he poured, flashing his teeth in his trademark  
smile...

"You come well prepared, Mr. LeGrand..." Ms. DuBois noted...

How does he keep those teeth so perfectly white?...

"One should never allow oneself to forego the pleasures of gracious living, Ms. DuBois..." he  
told her, smiling...

"Else one's existence is little better than that of the brute animals..."

"Indeed..." she regarded him...Smiling in spite of herself...

Twit he may be, but he is a beautiful man...she thought...

***

Human beings...Angel noted to his dinner companion...Should be able to transcend...All manners  
of boundaries to mutual understanding...All restraints and restrictions which held them apart  
from each other...

Hmmn...Miss DuBois thought...Remove all restraints...Like my corset, perhaps?...

They told me he was Fast...But...

She smiled pleasantly...Yes to the removal of all boundaries to mutual understanding...No to the  
removal of all...Restraints and restrictions...

"Mr. Le Grand..." she smiled sweetly... "I'm not such a fool that I would leap into the arms of the  
first man who attempted to seduce me by pretending to agree with some of the kinds of things I  
admire...

Seduce?...Angel blinked...Innocently...

My dear Miss DuBois...

He recovered himself with shock...

Not that seduction didn't sound like a pleasant option but for her to size him up so...Easily...

***  
Returning to the office the morning after the day of Miss DuBois' latest dispatch  
Willow was a bit disturbed to find the protesters in the hallway were not pleased by her  
continuing contacts with "the enemy"...

The suffragettes were no longer willing to listen to her pleas for patience...They wanted  
results...Now...

And traitors to the Cause were not welcome...Several eying her and Alex's office door...

Clearly they were being stirred up...Probably by that would-be bomb-thrower, Miss Macluay...

Crazed Anarchist...Probably a Socialist to boot...thought Willow...

The protestors began smashing up what furniture was in the halls...And smashing at the doors to  
the printing room...Shattering the glass in several doors and occupying the offices...  
Something had to be done...Quickly...She called to Alex through his door...

Alex was quite amenable to the idea...Of doing...Something...

In this case that something was...Calling the police...Turn of the twentieth century police...With  
very definite ideas about Woman's place in Society...And a strong attachment to those  
businessmen...Like Mr. Harris...Who treated them...Well...

They arrested the protesters without a moment's hesitation...Alex intervening to prevent injury to  
several of the more resistant females...But he was unable to intervene in time to prevent Willow's  
arrest...

"Warren!..." Alex called to a rather heavily bandaged Warren...Who hobbled in from his room...

"Yeah, Boss?..."

"Go and bail out Mrs. Harris..." he paused...

"In about two hours..."

No need to jeopardize her credibility among the suffragettes...Besides he was a trifle annoyed  
with her previous attitude..

***  
Yet More (Semi) Parallel Lives... "Great Race"...Part XII

Hercules LeGrand pondered the situation...

He held the telegram his fool son Angel's assistant, Hezekiah, had sent...

That equally moronic fool who'd gotten himself separated from his boy...

Angel...That soft fool of a son...Blindsided by that "Professor" Fate and co...A mere woman...

Now hundreds of miles in the lead of the Angel Special...

With the fate of LeGrand Motors clearly at stake...It was equally clear that stronger measures  
must be taken to stop Professor Fate...

He put out word to his agents along the race route...Though there might be little that could be  
done until the Walthrops reached civilized territory, the operatives of the LeGrand companies  
would be ready...

Perhaps...It was time to resume contact with his æspecial' operatives...Who'd been so useful in  
stopping Professor Fate in the past...  
They might not be of any use until the Race reached its European phase...But who could be sure  
what the situation might be by then...And if he hesitated too long they might be out of contact  
before he could make use of them...

On the other hand...Their reliability could be questionable...They had, after all, their own motives  
for wishing to stop the Walthrops...Still...In a crisis situation...All tools must be ready and at  
hand...

He decided to arrange a meeting...

If the road north through Canada had been other than a wagon-wheel rutted mess, often blocked  
by huge trees...With wolves and other animals howling in the distance during the increasingly  
frigid nights...And the few humans spotted looking anything but friendly...

It might have been a delightful trip...The scenery at least was gorgeous...

Which contrary to her usual nature when engaged in a competitive activity, Buffy-Millie  
enthusiastically pointed out to an increasingly quiet Max...

Whose rather curt quietitude was not helped by the effort required to get the Hannibal Super  
Twin 8 over the long Canadian road...

To the Alaskan departure point...Nome...Where a special ferry was to transport the racers to  
Siberia...

Although she might resemble Eleanor Roosevelt in appearance, the intrepid Professor Buffy-  
Millie Fate-Walthrop was anything but the "patient Griselda" type...And found it hard to take in  
others...

Particularly her husband...

A vague feeling of guilt however kept her from tackling the subject of Angel LeGrand head on...

Leading to her rather odd and ultimately unsuccessful attempt at cheery enthusiasm...Normally  
Max's role...

Even more disturbing...The physical...

Buffy-Millie had learned something in the past nine years that her counterpart, Buffy, would have  
been surprised by...

Early twentieth century types might not like to discuss the physical side of love...But...Lacking  
movies, TV, even radio...And phonographs still being rather poor...

They thoroughly enjoyed it...And could surprise even a twenty-first century woman with a degree  
of experience...

Little Max...Her dear William...Was...To put it bluntly...Incredible...At least by comparison with  
her previous...er future...Companions...

And Buffy-Millie was a woman who craved affection...Perhaps in part as one lost in a strange  
world...Possibly in part as a woman who wondered...About her beauty...And her charms...At least  
to herself...

And undoubtedly in part as a strong and passionately loving woman...

One might even go so far as to say...Addicted to love...At least where William was involved...

Now however...Walthrop...Was...Tired...Busy...Or just...Not up to it...

And slept in the rear of the car...Alone...

In minus 20 degree weather no less...

Her attempts at enthusiasm having failed...She tried teasing...

Perhaps not the best approach...When one is spending hours each day hacking through tree-  
overgrown wagon-ruts passing for a road...

No effect...Except that he requested she let him be and reserve the jokes about Angel for  
LeGrand when they next met...

She tried the forthright approach...What was wrong?...Was he upset with her?...Why was he  
angry?...

Lugging a large tree out of their way midway through Canada...

She couldn't see what she might have done to get him in such a state...Well?...

A rather large mountain lion objected to their presence...Walthrop cautiously got a rifle from the  
car and fired to frighten it off...

He preferred not to discuss it...His answers to her questions being...Nothing  
wrong...No...And...Angry?...Well,gee..What could I possibly be angry about?...

As they cleared the rubble of a small avalanche from the road...Nearing the Alaskan border...

But clearly he seemed to feel she ought to know what was bothering him...

She suspected she did...

Buried deep in the works of the engine which had suddenly failed them about thirty miles inside  
Alaska...

But...She had the nervous feeling it was best not to start the discussion on the subject herself...

Besides...As she frightened off a large grizzly with a hand grenade...

He ought to know after nine years of marriage that he was the one for her...Angel?...Bah...

She'd told him that often enough...Wondering guiltily if perhaps...In a dream or two...She might  
possibly have...

But he should realize that would only have been LeGrand's counterpart...A dream from her  
previous...er future...existence...

æCourse...She had never discussed that first night with him...When she'd woken to find herself in  
the "throes of passion" with LeGrand...

But...That wasn't...Important...Even she wasn't quite sure why or how she'd ended up there...

And after all it had led to her finding him...Her sweet William...

That good fortune she was happy to note to him...Namely...

That her brief encounter with LeGrand had led to finding the Love of her Life which she  
pointedly stressed to Walthrop...

But Forthrightness has its limits...So she still refrained from discussing the details of that  
encounter...Fearing...

The direct approach having been rejected...Buffy-Millie soon moved on to mild and  
increasing...Annoyance...

He had no reason to treat her this way...He was being childish, she felt...And said so...

Which had no effect except to make him...Quieter...

With the exception of a brief remark to the effect that...Some women...Seemed to see no  
strangeness in constantly discussing their own hurt feelings...Or insecurities...While  
ignoring...Trampling, rather...The feelings of...Others...

As they slowly plowed through increasingly heavy snows towards Nome...

The doctor was an old friend of Millicent's...Highly recommended by her...

Naturally she had never mentioned his status as a god of Mercy and Healing to Willow...

Not that it mattered...Benedictus being powerless outside his immortality and his centuries of  
acquired medical skill...

But Buffy-Millie felt it was best not to give out the story of her other existence to others besides  
her husband...A leetle difficult to prove...Especially in a universe where the supernatural was not  
much in evidence...And which prided itself on a Rational approach to most subjects...

Ben completed his examination of dear Alex...Who'd terrified Willow by complaints of chest  
pains, then collapsing in his office...Overwork and nervous exhaustion...she hoped...

Weak heart...The doctor noted...Complicated by nervous exhaustion...

He eyed the fluttering Willow...The words "weak heart" having nearly produced a coronary on  
her own part...

Not hard to determine the source of that exhaustion...

He recommended a prolonged vacation...Special diet...And above all...Peace and quiet...

"Vacation?..." Alex snorted... "Now?...I can't leave my paper unattended...In the midst of all  
these goings-on..."

Fine sentiments, the doctor noted...We'll have them inscribed on your tombstone...Shortly...

Ben was maintaining the "crusty" approach in this universe...

Willow was in a state bordering hysteria...This was all her fault...She and those #$%  
suffragettes of hers...

If Alex died as a result she'd leap out the Sentinel's highest window she insisted...Children or  
no...

Equally fine sentiments, the doctor noted dryly...But hardly of practical use here...

There was no serious damage to the heart as yet...If Mr. Harris would follow his instructions and  
behave sensibly...He might well live to see grandchildren...Else...

Knowing her husband as she did...And sensing that the grandchildren argument was persuading  
him...She switched from suicide threats to pleading...

The paper would be fine...A buyer could be found in short order...It was time he moved on to a  
new profession...Say...Writer-philosopher...Commentator on social issues...

He could insist on retaining a permanent voice on the Sentinel...Minus the pressure...

Hmmn...But the Sentinel was a Harris family property...He couldn't just abandon it to strangers...  
Let it be destroyed...

A matter of duty and family...

Well...Perhaps...Until a suitable buyer...A family friend and personage of sterling qualities who  
would maintain Harris family standards...Was found...Perhaps...She and Mears could keep the  
paper running...

As a temporary measure...While he began his rest cure...

Oh...So...

Wasn't she coming with him?...Alex looked a little downcast...He'd begun to look favorably on  
the vacation idea...But...

Of course she'd come...Willow hugged him...

The doctor stressed the need for peace and quiet...

Hmmn...Well...What if he didn't go far?...Say no more than a few hours train ride...

She could visit on weekends...And when he was rested...More often...

Then...Cure complete...And the paper sold...They'd begin a new and more peaceful life in some  
quiet town...

Alex grinned...You...A peaceful life, eh?...

"I'll believe that when I see it..." he told her...

He eyed her...Not that he had any doubts about her ability to run the paper...

She had, after all, run it for years...he noted wryly...

"I suppose you'd be making...Changes..." he smiled at her...

Willow looked innocently back at him...Changes?...

Well...She admitted sheepishly...The thought had occurred to her that...While they sought a  
buyer...Perhaps just as an experiment...And to prevent the angry protestors from fomenting  
trouble during this unsettled time...

Uh-huh...

Not if it will stop you from going on vacation...she noted worriedly...If you say No...It's no...

He sighed...Still if he had to give up the publishing business anyway...In order to stay with dear  
Willow and see his children reach man-and woman-hood...To leave with a grand gesture of  
Social Reform and Advancement...

To be stuck on some other poor schnook of a buyer...

"It might be nice to go out with a bang..." he grinned at her...Provided..No old and faithful  
employees were cleared out before their time in order for the experiment...

No fogeys would be touched, she assured him...

Well...It wasn't as if his objections had been based on opposition to the idea of women at the  
Sentinel...After all, he'd hired Miss DuBois, the first woman and Black reporter there...He  
just...Hadn't wanted to let himself be seen...As bowing to pressure...

Willow hugged him...He was a Prince...

And so long as she reviewed the qualifications of those she would be taking on with him...To  
maintain the quality of a Harris family product...He noted...

Of course...Willow noted...If any of these protestors think I'd hire on the basis of gender  
alone...They have a surprise coming...

She would review all of them with him...But he was not to put in any strenuous work on this...

And...Alex continued...He expected to get some credit for being willing to go along with the  
idea...

He would go down in the History of Social Advancement and Progress...Willow assured him...

And she would visit...Every weekend?...

No children...For a month or two...The doctor sternly noted...

Every weekend...And more...As soon as the doctor allowed...Willow told him...

Well...He supposed it was a father's duty to try to live as long as possible for his family...

Willow hugged him...And they made plans to head out to a rest home the doctor had  
recommended...

Though they could not take direct and immediate action against Professor Fate and co, agents of  
the LeGrand companies were at hand in Alaska...And were able, taking advantage of the heavy  
snows, to block the one road to Nome completely with avalanches...

The resulting delay for the Walthrops...Coupled to the long hack through Canada...Had given  
Angel and Miss DuBois their chance to make up much of the lost time...

With the result that the two cars found themselves snowed in at the same roadside...On the  
only...And that occasionally...Usable road...Just after the last gas stop before the Alaskan coast.  
A long, miserable alternate coastal road...Track, really...To Nome...

***

Was it really fifty degrees below zero outside?...Miss DuBois inquired...

Indeed...Angel noted...Unless of course the exterior thermometer had frozen and it was even  
colder...

And now, if the internal temperature reading was correct...It was becoming rather dangerously  
cold inside as well...Despite the heater...

However...With visibility down to zero...It was hopeless to consider returning to the last town or  
continuing...By car or on foot...

A crisis situation Angel noted...

Miss DuBois carefully entered a note to that effect in her daily log...

Although she'd exhausted her supply of carrier pigeons she hoped to continue regular  
communications with the Sentinel by telegraph when they reached Nome...

However...The possibility that they might not reach Nome was beginning to seem likely...

Angel applauded his guest's gallantry...A noble spirit unbowed by the dangers...

To which Miss DuBois nodded her thanks...With somewhat chattering teeth...

Still they were not without some resources...Angel noted...

A portable stove...On which he proposed to heat some soup and more or less hot coffee...

Blankets to supplement the car's overburdened heater...  
Hmmn...He'd really have to speak to the LeGrand engineers...If the car was to truly be capable of  
handling all conditions...

And...Champagne...A vital stimulant...

Stimulant?...Hmmn...Miss DuBois thought...If she remembered Nursing class correctly...

Well, at least the soup and coffee would help...

But curiosity gnawed...

Where does he keep that endless supply of Champagne?...Miss DuBois wondered...

Is it tucked underneath the car or what?...

***

Sixty-five below...

In the Hannibal Super Twin 8, now directly apart from the Angel Special, conditions had forced  
Walthrop into an at least temporary reconciliation with Buffy-Millie...

Although her car heater was better designed than the Angel Special's, it could not keep up with  
the rapid fall in temperature...And would only run so long as the gasoline held out...

Based on Walthrop's practical experience with Teddy Roosevelt in the Dakotas...And Buffy-  
Millie's scientific knowledge, they had mutually decided that the times called for the  
employment of...Body heat...

Seventy below...Blizzard conditions...

The soup and coffee had helped a bit but the internal temperature was getting quite low in the  
Angel Special...

Desperate times call for desperate measures...Angel noted...

The now seriously shivering Ms. DuBois nodded...Or seemed to...It was getting difficult to tell...

In the clime in which they now found themselves...Alaska, Angel noted...

I know we're in Alaska...Ms. DuBois thought to herself...

The local populace...Inuits...Or as you might know them, Eskimos...frequently must deal with  
situations akin to that in which they now found themselves...

Freezing to death in a blizzard...Do I look like a feeble-minded child?...she thought furiously...

"Mr. LeGrand...Do you have a point?..." she asked...Twit...Beautifully handsome twit of course...  
she thought...

Ah, yes...Well you see...One Inuit in a blanket...Freezes to death under such conditions...

However...Two...

She looked at him...

Were warmer...he concluded...

"Two...Mr. LeGrand?..." she asked him...

"Two...Miss DuBois..." he told her...

Not that he was unmindful of the possible...Impropriety...But...

Crisis situation, Miss DuBois...he noted...And he was...After all...Angel LeGrand, a gentleman of  
impeccable reputation...

He looked at her as innocently as his own shivering would allow...

Uh-huh...She looked back at him...Still...Seventy below...

Hmmn...

***  
"What's the tem-temp-"...a shivering Buffy-Millie asked...

"Everything's frozen..." Walthrop noted...Looking at her...Heck, even...

"Even your hair's frozen..." he poked at her bunned hair...Breaking off a small chunk...

She looked at him, slightly warming...My one beauty...

"Max!...You broke my hair!..."

She managed even a feeble glare...

"You did that on purpose..." she yelled...Whanging at him...

He fell back out the unlocked door...Utter white outside...

"Max?..." she called to him...Not able to see him at all...

He faintly called to her over the storm...

"William...Get back in this car!..." she yelled, coming over to the door...

She couldn't see him in the white around the car and freaked...

But retained enough presence of mind to tie the end of a scarf to the car door as she went out and  
felt around for him...

"William!..." she screamed...And turning, crashed into him...As he was carefully feeling his  
way along the car...

Where had he gotten the new white coat, she wondered...She reached for him to pull him back  
inside...And felt a wet nose...

Walthrop gently tapped her from behind...

The polar bear Buffy-Millie had grabbed by the nose was pleasant enough, considering the  
manner of their meeting but made it clear he or she did not appreciate such familiarity...At least  
on such short acquaintance...

They managed to roll underneath the car before it was fully aware that fresh meat was readily at  
hand...And entered the front of the car from the opposite side...Leaving the rear door they had  
emerged from...Ajar...

"Up?..." Walthrop suggested, questioning...

"Up, up!...Up now..." Buffy-Millie agreed...

Down...Bad...At least until their uninvited guest left...

The body of the Hannibal rose ten feet...With three occupants...

She desperately hugged him...And he seemed willing to accept it...

She felt a leetle guilty...Dragging him out here...To his premature death...

But, perhaps, before that death, the time for a possible reconciliation had come...

And given the likelihood of death, perhaps reconciliation before they reached  
those pearly gates was a good idea...

"Honey?..." she began...Hopefully...Shivering more than ever...  
Hmmn...It suddenly seemed a bit warmer...

Effect of height?...Unlikely...

Well...Better than colder...Unless of course it was the effect of hypothermia...

Anyway, as to reconciliation efforts...

But what was that smell?...

Walthrop...And she...Might not be too hygienic right now...Owning to the  
wildness of the country...But not even two weeks confined in a small car driving through Canada  
would produce a stench like this...

They looked at each other...

And then behind...

The bear was polite but not overly so in his or her greeting...

With a cry the Walthrops scrambled out of the car and fell onto the roof of the Angel Special...

Tearing clear through...And landing in the back seat...

Angel and Miss DuBois stared at them...Under several blankets...

"Pardon us...But there's a polar bear in our car..." Buffy-Millie told them...

"Get out...Or I shall personally feed you two to the bear..." Angel told her...

"Mr. LeGrand..." Miss DuBois looked at him...

Walthrop noted...Looking at them with as much dignity as he could muster...That they lacked a  
proper chaperone in any case...

"I hardly think the scandal will leak out once you two have been eaten..." Angel noted...

"Mr. LeGrand?..." Miss DuBois

"What...Should I let them stay?...After what they've been doing?..."

"What we've...Been doing?..." Buffy-Millie's dander was rising...In spite of the cold...

"Now, now...We can't let them freeze to death..." Miss DuBois pointed out...

"Need I remind you that they've just destroyed the roof of my car...And it's now the same out  
there as it is here?..."

Hmmn...

"But you were saying that two people under a blanket would be...Warmer than one..." Miss  
DuBois noted...With an innocent expression...

Buffy-Millie smiled sourly at Angel...This your latest clever line for your ladies?...

"You have blankets and stimulants..." Walthrop noted... "Besides...You're right about body  
heat...And with four of us...There'd be that much more..."

"Alcohol is a depressant..." Buffy-Millie noted, regarding the bottle of champagne in Angel's  
hand...

"However..." She smiled proudly on her hubs...

"William was out West with Teddy Roosevelt and he knows about extreme conditions...We must  
all get under the blankets together..."

"Yes..." Urged Miss DuBois, feeling the chill... "Under the blankets..."

Hmmn...Angel frowned but accepted the situation...As did his competitor...

***  
"Good morning, Miss DuBois..." Angel nudged her gently...

"Good morning..." she was a hair embarrassed waking up next to him...But his cheery  
mood...Plus the snores of the Walthrops next to them...Helped considerably...

"What time is it?..."

"Ah...Seven-thirty...I'm just starting some breakfast...If you would wake our guests..."

"Good morning, Mr. Walthrop...It's seven-thirty..." she nudged Max...Who was considerably less  
comfortable...

He nudged Millie...

"Millie...Rise and Shine!...Seven-thirty..."

"Rise and shine?...Rise and shine?..." she hollered...

One aspect of Buffy that Buffy-Millie had fully retained was an aversion to morning hours...  
"What the hell time is it?..."

"She's like this in the morning..." he told the others, apologetically...

"Seven-thirty..." Walthrop told her...

"Seven-thirty...Well, you rise...You shine..."

She turned back under the covers...Walthrop nudged her...Not our car, dear...

"She's always like this in the morning..." he noted to the others...

"I'm sick..." she moaned... "I'm seasick..."

"Had too much champagne last night..." Miss DuBois noted...

"I'm not sick from champagne...I'm sick from the sea!..." Buffy-Millie howled...

Always like this in the morning, Walthrop noted apologetically...

"You have my sympathies..." Angel replied...

She glared at them...Idiots...

"Seven-thirty in the morning you idiots and I'm seasick!..." she turned to the car door and opened  
it...And heading out, plunged into the sea which now surrounded the block of ice on which the  
two cars sat...

"Max!..."

Yet More (Semi) Parallel Lives... "Great Race"...Part XIII

Walthrop had managed to pull a half-frozen Buffy-Millie from the icy water...

Feeling better?...William asked Buffy-Millie as she lay shivering under blankets in the  
Hannibal...Heat blasting as much as possible...

Uhhh...Coolld...

"How's about a hot cup of tea..."

Uhhh...Coolld...

"I'll take that as yes..."

The two cars and their occupants were adrift in the Bering Sea on a large block of ice...Just large  
enough to support them...

Must have broken off during last night's blizzard...Very lucky we all didn't drive off into the  
ocean, unable as we were to see the coast...Angel noted to Ms. DuBois...

Walthrop came over and politely asked permission to boil a little tea water...

"Will she be all right?..." LeGrand asked him...Genuine concern in his voice both Walthrop and  
Miss DuBois noted...

Fine...Just a slight chill...Walthrop told him...Looking at him...

"Perhaps...I should speak to her..." Angel suggested...

Not the best thing right now...Walthrop smiled...A bit coldly...

And took the tea back to Millie...

Some people...Angel noted to Miss DuBois...

***  
She'd been dead...Twice...This kind of cold was worse...Buffy-Millie noted to William...

He noted that she must be feeling slightly better...Given the fact that she could now tell him how  
she felt...

She nodded, grinning a bit...Must have looked preety silly at that...

"So...I was right..." she smiled archly... "We're at sea..."

About as at sea as one can get...Walthrop noted...Not a sign of land...

Oh...Not a sign?...

Not even a bird...

Hmmn...

"What direction are we headed?..." she asked a bit anxiously, sipping her tea...

East...East-Southeast...he told her...

South?...  
East-Southeast...According to LeGrand's calculations...

Hopefully...If all calculations were correct...In the direction of Siberia...

Angel's "calculations"...she snorted...Rolling her eyes...

"Bring me the telescope and sextant from the car..." she told Max...

Professor of Physics and Mathematics here...

Her calculations more or less jibbed with LeGrand's...

"He's learned a little math since we last knew him..." Max noted to her...

But they were moving more slowly than he had estimated...About two miles per hour...With the  
variable wind...

Walthrop...As befitting a practical engineer...Suggested making a kind of sail and  
rudder...Something to push the speed up and maybe allow a little directional control...

He set to work with the help of Miss DuBois and LeGrand...Buffy-Millie still being in grave  
danger of pneumonia...

SENTINEL HIRES WOMEN...

The headline blared from Willow's copy of the Sunday special edition...As she leaned back in  
Alex's old chair...Telephone cradled in her lap...

She had figured...With her well-honed...From years of working with Alex...Editorial  
instinct...That Sunday was the best day to spring the bombshell...

Far less likely for mobs of angry men to storm the Sentinel offices on the Sabbath...When  
downtown offices were empty and all respectable men were contemplating the joys of Home and  
Family...

Alex congratulated her on the phone line from his rest home...As she read the front page to him...

She'd pulled it off well so far, he admitted...And the appointments had been well thought out...

Two experienced...From women's journals...Reporters, two apprentice printers, two interns, three  
messengers, two clerks...

And of course, a new editor-in-chief, columnist-publisher...

Just enough to shake things up without risking the paper's solid reputation...

Though of course certain to produce consternation on Monday...If not outright condemnation...

She was glad Alex was safely away...As was he...Though he worried for her...

She had, however, things well in hand...

Police alerted...And properly "thanked" in advance...The Mayor...Promised the paper's editorial  
support in his upcoming campaign...Was ready to issue a statement condemning any mob  
violence and calling on the police to arrest anyone disturbing the city's peace on Monday...

But she thought the news from Alaska would probably diffuse any agitation tomorrow...

The Great Racers were now four days overdue...Based on Miss DuBois' last report...At Nome in  
very heavy weather conditions...

With the direct overland road from Canada blocked...

Poor Millie and Will...Alex noted...And the children...

Willow agreed...But...If anyone would get through it would be Millie...

And of course poor Miss DuBois...Alex felt terrible...As did Willow...

To have allowed her to continue on this dangerous journey...

Still, Alex noted...She was a true journalist...And if she had perished...Her contribution to Social  
Advancement would be immortal...

Be nice if she could have gotten off one last dispatch...Willow noted...A hair guiltily...

Alex agreed...In the interests of history and journalism of course...

Willow was a natural editor-publisher he noted...Which praise pleased her no end...

Still, he told her...He had not lost all hope for their friends...

***  
She may have lacked the super-strength of a Slayer, but Buffy-Millie's recuperative powers were  
remarkable...

Pneumonia avoided, she was on her feet and impatiently tramping the ice floe by day three of  
their sea voyage...

Walthrop's sail and rudder had raised their speed...And spirits...Considerably...But after three  
days...Still no signs of land...

Or even a single sail...

Why didn't I at least invent a decent radio?...Buffy-Millie groused at herself...

Can-opener...I invent a can opener...Well, copied it from memory to tell the truth...

Can-opener, bombsight...And a dozen other equally useless...

Well...Of course Marconi's system has been around a few years...But I could've improved on it...

Then we'd have a chance to reach...Somebody...

And I wouldn't have killed my husband...My children wouldn't be orphaned...All because I had  
to prove...Something...

Walthrop knew his wife's depressed moods all too well and allowed her her space...

LeGrand, however...With his usual sunny disposition...Felt it necessary to point out to her  
that...Although he understood she had been through a dangerous past few days...She  
was...Perhaps...

Not displaying quite the right sort of...Pluck...Required at this time...

Walthrop...Noting Buffy-Millie's impatience...And Angel's remarkable denseness...Settled back  
to enjoy the coming fireworks...

There was indeed a good deal of his alterative universe counterpart in him...

***  
"Pluck?..." Buffy-Millie regarded Angel...Pasting a sweet smile on her face...

"Pardon me...I had no idea I was dampening the party spirits of our little cruise ship..."

"Cruise ship?..." Angel wondered...

Of course one takes a cruise...On a ship...he thought...But he'd never heard of...

"You dim-witted moron!...We're all gonna drown!..."

"Millie...Please...The others..."  
She glared at him...And where did he come off calling her Millie?...

"This is an ice cube you idiot...With four people on it standing within ten feet of each  
other...What æothers' are you talking about?..."

"#$%!"...she stamped her feet at him...

She stalked off...Walthrop smiled pleasantly at LeGrand...Who remained standing for over a  
minute, jaw visibly dropped...

The little man should take his wife in hand, Angel noted to Miss DuBois, having returned to the  
car where she was writing in her journal...Now if she were his wife...

Indeed?...Miss DuBois regarded him...Dryly...And left him...

Hmmn...How did I...The Angel LeGrand...Ever manage to wind up drifting on an ice floe with  
the only two women I've ever known who treat me like this?...Angel wondered...

Suggested Max and Millie's theme (Solace, Scott Joplin)

Buffy-Millie plopped down beside Walthrop at the edge of the ice floe...Looking out to sea...

"Forgive me, Will...I didn't mean for this to happen..."

He grinned at her...

"Well...You'll probably wind up back in your own old universe...With your robot sister...And my  
counterpart by your side..."

"Don't make fun of me, Will...Please..." she asked him...With the full Buffy stare...

Lost in a strange world...

She took his hand solemnly...And kissed it...

"You're my salvation...Will...I know I'm hard to take sometimes...But I couldn't bear it if you  
didn't believe in me..."

He hugged her...

When she's like this...Walthrop thought...I could go round the world with her, fly to the moon  
with her, fight one of those vampires or demons she's always talking about...Anything...

***  
Fifth day...

Angel was measuring the size of the ice floe from surface to sea...Which measure had been  
steadily diminishing in height over the past few days...

"What's the reading..." Buffy-Millie glared at Angel...

"Only another four inches..." he told her...Pleasantly...

"Oh...Another four inches..." she mimicked his tone... "You know at the rate we've been melting  
that's only good for about one more week..."

"Probably..." he agreed...

"We're melting..."

"Eventually..."

"We'll drown!..."

"Possibly..." he maintained his tone... "But now there's no reason to alarm the others...I'm sure  
we'll be safely within the shipping lanes by then..."

"Oh, really..."

The æothers' again...My God he's still addressing his crowds of adoring fans...

"So...You will keep this to yourself, I trust..." he looked at her solemnly...

"Keep it to myself?...Why of course..." she told him sarcastically...As he headed back to his car...

Until the water reaches my lower lip...And then I may mention it to somebody in the crowd  
here...she thought...

It wasn't that she didn't understand the Professor's frustration, Miss DuBois noted to Buffy-  
Millie as they tramped the slab of ice together...

Miss DuBois and Mrs. Fate-Walthrop feeling the need for a little female companionship...And  
Buffy-Millie feeling a guilty desire to apologize for her previous attitude towards Willow's  
friend...Especially what with the Shadow of Death looming and all...

And Mr. LeGrand was a bit...Dense...At times...Miss DuBois admitted...With a grin...

But he was sincere in his efforts to be reassuring...

Buffy-Millie grimly acknowledged that Angel was trying to be reassuring...  
Clearly there was some justifiable hard feeling on both...

The Professor was looking at her...On both sides?...Did she know what LeGrand's thugs had  
been doing to sabotage her work?...Did she know what kind of two-faced, low-down...

Miss DuBois pointed out that the Professor had been rather unscrupulous at Boracho...

Buffy-Millie calmed a bit...To make her point clearly...

Angel LeGrand had stolen her work from the day they met...Her thesis, her vehicle designs...His  
men had nearly killed her and more importantly her husband...And he was doing his best to  
belittle the efforts of all Women...If Miss DuBois had gotten the impression that she, Millicent  
Fate-Walthrop...Was on some ridiculously childish quest to punish LeGrand for being...Dense at  
some time in their past...

"Just what are you trying to achieve, Professor?..." Miss DuBois asked...With a professional's  
air...

Walthrop, nearby...On duty watching his sail...While also resecuring the Hannibal Super Twin8,  
listened...

"I want him to admit what he's done...At least to me...And I want to wipe that smug grin off his  
face..." Buffy-Millie told her frankly...

Not that she meant to suggest anything...But Miss DuBois felt she couldn't help noting that...For  
all his admitted smugness of manner, etc...Had always spoken of the Professor and her  
achievements in the highest terms...

Buffy-Millie paused in her tramping...And looked Miss DuBois up and down...With a sardonic  
grin...

"You like him, don't you?..." she asked sourly...

Another woman lost to the charms of Angel's white teeth and perfect hair...And this one had  
seemed to possess an intellect...

Hardly...Miss DuBois insisted...With a touch of asperity...However she liked to be fair in all her  
judgements...And it seemed to her...As an impartial observer...

"You like him...God help you, you poor girl..." Buffy-Millie sighed...

Forthrightness being Miss DuBois' outstanding characteristic...

"I would say...Professor...You're the one who... æLikes'...Mr. LeGrand..." she noted firmly...

To the point of rather fanatic obsession...she further noted...

Leaving Mrs. Fate-Walthrop rather gasping on the edge of the ice floe as she returned to the  
Angel Special...

"Max!..." she hollered at Walthrop nearby...

"Did...Did...Did...!" she stuttered in her anger...

Did I hear that?...Yes I did, dear...William noted...

And although not an impartial observer...I have to say that...

"You agree with her?..." Buffy-Millie screamed...Stamping her feet enough to impart a rocking  
motion to the floe...

A vague memory of Glory doing the same to the Sunnydale Mall crossed her mind briefly...

"I wouldn't go so far as to say I agree that you... æLike'...him...But as to the obsess..."

"You...How can you say that?...Max?...You?..." she was gasping...And turning red...

Now blue...

Take a breath, dear...Walthrop told her...

As for his attitude...Well, yes...Although he understood...He was a leetle tired of this Angel  
hunting...

"#$%&!...#$%^*!" she stamped off...

A very angry person...Angel noted to the returned Miss DuBois...

One wishes one could do...Something for her...he went on...

Perhaps...A more virile sort of man was required for her...he told Miss DuBois...Fulfill her  
properly...

Miss DuBois looked at him...No doubt he had a perfect candidate in mind...

Twit...she thought...Even when I'm on his side for fairness' sake...Somehow he always manages  
to prove himself a complete jackass...

Such a waste...He sighed...A brilliant woman like that...And he suspected...From the brief time  
they'd known each other as friends in college...A truly warm heart buried under the anger...  
He went off to his watch manning Walthrop's sail...

It was Miss DuBois' turn to drop a jaw...

***  
Seventh day...

Buffy-Millie was shaken out of what little sleep she had managed by the sound of Walthrop  
clambering all over the car...

Securing boxes and cases with ropes...

"Max...Can the noise!...What the hell's the deal?..." she hollered...

I'll never get used to her language Angel thought as he scrapped ice to melt for coffee...

Walthrop paused a moment and pointed at the morning sky...

"Red sky...We'd better get things tied down..." Walthrop continued with his work...

Clearly he was still...With her...

She was out-of-sorts...Seasick again and not a little annoyed with him...He had no reason to carry  
on about this...Further she was not in the mood for hustling around...

"Why?...What's the matter?..."

"There's going to be a storm..." William told her firmly...

"What?..."

"Red sky at morning, sailor take warning..."

"Max...That's an old wives tale...In these latitudes, at this time of year...Ridiculous..."

"I've been on the sea...The Atlantic at least...Those boys know what they're about..."

"It's nonsense..." Buffy-Millie snorted...

***  
The storm was threatening to sweep the two cars off the ice floe...But Walthrop still found time  
as he dashed about withe LeGrand and the others...Securing ropes...Dragging back boxes of vital  
supplies threatening to plunge into the ocean...Piling ice and snow up against the cars to brace  
them...To occasionally smile pleasantly at his wife...

Who glared whenever she caught his look...When she wasn't terrified he or she or all of them  
were going into the water...

After three hours the storm abated and the exhausted group collectively shook themselves...

The ice floe had taken a severe battering...Underneath the waves as well as above...

Buffy-Millie looked down at her feet...They were so cold it was hard to tell...But there was  
definitely something wet...Sloshing at the hem of her dress...Her usual practical black...

The ice floe was sinking slowly under the water...No longer able to support the weight of the two  
cars and their human occupants...

"We're under water!..." she screamed at LeGrand...

She looked desperately around for William... "Max!...We're going to drown!..."

Miss DuBois was standing by the car...Rather wishing she had a Max to scream for...

She looked over at LeGrand...Who seemed preoccupied with his telescope...

Well...As long as we're going to drown...And Mr. Walthrop is taken...

She headed over towards them...

Max was still fiddling with the car ropes...But he looked out to sea...

And headed over, clambering over the top of the Hannibal...

"We're going to drown, you idiot!..." Buffy-Millie screeched at Angel... "Stop playing with that  
thing and help us do something!..."

Angel smiled pleasantly...Ah, dear Millie...Always so excitable...

Walthrop's fault really...He does overindulge her whims...

She was ready to smack his smug face...Especially if they were about to die...

Miss DuBois had reached them...And was rather leaning towards Professor Fate's opinion...

What the hell was he smiling about?...

"We aren't going to drown..." he informed them...Put an eye back to the telescope...

The ladies looked at each other...  
Walthrop grabbed Buffy-Millie from behind...Whirling her around...In a hug...

"I see land, Buffy..." he pointed...Off in the distance...

Yes, land...Angel agreed, looking back and down at Walthrop, a shade peeved...And, through the  
thin remnants of the morning fog...He had just spied a large ship approaching...

"You might have said something..." Miss DuBois noted to Angel...A trifle...

"I wasn't quite sure until a moment ago..." he told her...No need to raise false hopes after all...he  
explained...

Twit...She thought...And I know why he waited...Looking back at where Walthrop was now  
utterly buried in Buffy-Millie's hug...

Just waiting for the right dramatic moment...Posturing twit...

Good for Mr. Walthrop...Stealing his thunder...

She stood away from LeGrand...

She was collecting her thoughts for an immediate dispatch on reaching a telegraph, she answered  
curtly in response to his question...

She did her best to do just that...Not caring to dwell on her disappointment in him...

Just when she'd started to think...As a result of their days of travel together...Perhaps...There  
might be more than a dazzling set of teeth there...

Angel looked at her...Not the sort of enthusiastic appreciation of their deliverance he'd hoped  
for...

And expected...

After all, Angel LeGrand here...

Buffy-Millie was too occupied to join Miss DuBois in torturing LeGrand...

Max hadn't called her "Buffy" in days...

Perhaps while the ship fast approaching towed them into the harbor...Now with the fog burning  
off, clearly visible...They should get the car uncovered and ready...

Perhaps...Get in the car...

Perhaps...Then...Recover the car...Remaining inside...

She had kept the saloon-girl's dress...she noted...

Angel strode over...To congratulate his intrepid competitor...On their joint survival...

Surely time to put aside old feuds...

Especially with the Russian ship now in clear view...And the decks filled to the gills with  
cheering well-wishers...Among them now visible with their cameras, several reporters...

Truly it was on the tip of her tongue to tell LeGrand to handle his adoring Press himself...

But...To finally get a little favorable publicity...Even if most attention would, she knew, be  
focused on Angel...

And if even she could count on being patronized...The little lady competitor...Saved by the  
gallant Angel LeGrand...

Well...It was good for their company...She sheepishly noted to Walthrop...

And to avoid any problems stemming from their escapades in the American West...

Sure...He told her noncommitally...Eyeing her carefully...

She walked over to the edge of the floe with LeGrand...The reporters were rowing over  
frantically...

Angel took her arm gallantly...Buffy-Millie glared at him but reluctantly...Made the best of it...

The disappointed look on Walthrop's face matched Miss DuBois' to a T...He stood near her, both  
watching...

"Our prima donnas..." he shrugged to her...Smiling a bit...grimly...

As was she...

***  
Yet More (Semi) Parallel Lives... "Great Race"...Part XIV...

Angel greeted his adoring press with his usual aplomb...

Seven days at sea on a melting ice floe...Facing death at every turn...

Yet teeth as dazzlingly white as ever...Hair and suit...In perfect order...As always...  
Ready for his close-up...

What a story...What a headline...

What a man...

The reporters were primed and ready to drool...

Angel generously indicated his competitor...Waving his adoring Press to her direction...

A courageous and gallant lady, Gentlemen...Professor Millicent Fate...

She stared at him...And them...

In her wrinkled black dress...With white salt stains...Hair looking like she'd been on a melting ice  
floe for seven days...Still queasy from the sea...Trying desperately to smile...

Walthrop and Miss DuBois watched from positions by the cars...

For once the Press was also interested in Buffy-Millie...A compelling human interest story...

The two competing Great Racers...Forced to put aside their differences...Work together to  
survive the great peril...

The reporters had questions for her...

Had she felt secure in the knowledge that Angel LeGrand was at hand?...

How had Mr. LeGrand saved their lives?...

"Gentlemen...Please..." Angel gallantly interrupted... "Professor Fate...As all of us four...Played  
her own courageous role in our adventure..."

He was himself...He noted modestly...But one of four...Intrepid adventurers...Braving the  
elements for the sake of Technologic Advancement...

LeGrand felt it was time to call the Press' attention to the fact that one of their own had been a  
member of the party...

To his credit...He was a bit annoyed at their rather...Diffident...Response...On meeting Miss  
DuBois...

I was right...He does like her...Buffy-Millie noted, watching his face...He's actually concerned  
for her feelings...  
An amazing thing...It being Angel LeGrand...she thought...

An awkward moment...Miss DuBois forthrightly refusing to withdraw into a corner...  
The reporters torn between their desire to please their hero...And their...Feelings regarding Miss  
DuBois...

Walthrop caught Miss DuBois' eye from his post by the Hannibal...Smiling encouragement at  
her...And shifting his gaze to his wife...Who had turned to look back at him...

You want to impress these...?...His look clearly said...

The reporters now rather desperately turned back to Buffy-Millie...Who now glared at them  
coldly...

Something to distract from the awkward situation...

Was there any truth to the rumor?...One rather romantic reporter asked a smoldering Buffy-  
Millie...That she was planning to leave her husband for...

The other reporters snickered at that...

Young foolish pup...As if Angel LeGrand...

I mean, look at those teeth...

She was too shocked to do more than stare at the young man...

The reporters turned reluctantly back to LeGrand...Who seemed foolishly determined to continue  
his little experiment in Social Progress...Informing them that Miss DuBois had kept an extensive  
account of their journey...Which...He was sure...They'd all like the chance to quote from...

They looked at each other...

Well...No one has to know...

Against her will, Buffy-Millie had to admit...As she watched LeGrand...

He was...For once...Demonstrating a slight degree of...

The cameramen had completed setting up...

If Mr. LeGrand wouldn't mind...

He strode forward...Looking back at Miss DuBois...

She smiled a bit at him...The reporters looked anxiously at each other...

He isn't going to...

Angel looked awkwardly around...Eyes falling on Buffy-Millie...Who stared back at him...

Finally back to Miss DuBois...Ummn...

A long pause...Miss DuBois stared...And finally, smiled faintly at him again...

Watching, for the first time ever...Buffy-Millie felt vaguely sorry for Angel LeGrand...

You poor...Fool...

She preferred not to be included in the pictures...Miss DuBois called to Angel...

He brightened and stepped over to the cameras...

The reporters and cameramen breathed a sigh of relief...

Heroism was all very well...In the proper arena...But common sense was likewise a necessary  
commodity...

Angel looked to Buffy-Millie who smiled at him...Neither maliciously nor pleasantly...Perhaps  
just a trace of pity...And turning away, walked back to Walthrop...

Ignoring the reporters' calls...Which quickly ended, their hero providing quite enough  
photographic material...

Standing in his usual pose of confident daring...And carefully avoiding Miss DuBois' stare...

Mercifully for LeGrand it was Miss DuBois' turn to be embarrassed as the Russian ship, with the  
cars, Racers, and reporters now safely hoisted aboard, pulled into harbor...

A single man in fur cap on the dock waving and jumping frantically...Hmmn...Angel raised his  
telescope...

Hezekiah...

He walked over to Miss DuBois who had been standing by the Walthrops...

"Miss DuBois...What is Hezekiah doing on that dock?..." he asked her, frowning...

He handed the telescope to Miss DuBois...  
Ummn...

A furious Hezekiah explained the situation to his Boss...Fortunately between the Canadian rail  
and steamer across the Bering Sea he'd made the crossing from Alaska in time to catch up...

"You told me he'd gone back to New York!..." Angel glared at a rather less than forthright Miss  
DuBois...

Well...She looked away...

"You handcuffed him to a train seat!..."

True...But...

She decided on a return to forthrightness...

"I told you Mr. LeGrand, I get what I want..." she told him firmly...

"And I mean to complete this Race..."

Angel shook his head...

"Not with us!..." he insisted...Hezekiah nodding happily...

She frowned at him...Grim determination in her eyes...

Buffy-Millie watched the exchange, an idea forming in her mind...

Walthrop looked up from the telegram and letter he was writing to Millie's parents and the  
children...

And saw his wife's look...

Uh-oh...

Willow Harris had decided to expand the latest triumph of Women...And launched the Sentinel,  
with Alex's nervous but surprisingly rather proud approval...On a crusade to demand the  
increased employment of women in non-traditional employment...

If women could work at the Sentinel...Quite successfully...Why not in other newspapers...Why  
not in factory jobs other than textiles...

As a practical person, she tried the common sense approach in her editorials...Surely if a woman  
could run a sewing machine...She could learn to run a power loom...Or could work on the new  
automobile assembly lines such as at Ford's or LeGrand's...And earn the higher pay that would  
lift the Lower Orders out of poverty...

Alex was not surprised to learn that the common sense approach did not succeed...Most  
employers and their competitors in the Press ignored Willow's call...A few business leaders,  
politicians, clergymen denounced the wicked idea...Tearing at the foundation of the Home...The  
very Fabric of Society...

Ignoring Willow's point that many women had no support...Or such as they had...Could hardly  
be called "support"...

Alex suggested a tougher approach in his daily phone conversation and during their weekend get  
togethers...He rather enjoyed the idea, now that he was safely away from the daily cares of the  
Sentinel...Of hounding his competitors with the same tactics used against him...

Protests, demonstrations, occupation of offices...

He went so far as to suggest pressure on their conservative clients...A suggestion even Willow  
had been nervous about implementing...To risk losing their client base by refusing their  
advertisements...

Well...They were still planning to sell out in due course, weren't they?...Or was she by any  
chance?...Hoping to stay on?...Leaving him alone in some small town writing editorials?...

He'd noted their weekends getting fewer and shorter...As was this particular visit...Barely a day...

Ummn...She'd never leave him alone, Willow began...

I see...Alex glared...Perhaps...You'd care to allow me the comfort of the children in my exile...

She never intended for him to stay away...It was just...Running the paper was so...

Couldn't he come home?...When his cure was done...And help her run the paper?...With  
restricted duties...

Sort of an above-the-battle advisor...

The doctors had recommended he avoid the bustle and bad air of city life...Remember?...

However, if she preferred that he come home to die...

Alex...She frowned...There was no need for him to take on like that...

She shifted her tactics...It was a brilliant idea...His suggestion of pressuring their clients...  
Sure to achieve grand results...Which after all was the major reason for her continuing so long...

Just let her win a few victories on this front and she'd look into the sale of the paper...

Hmmn...He relented a bit...Well...If it was merely a matter of duty...The sacred cause of Social  
Advancement and Progress...He supposed he could be patient...

She hugged him gratefully...Dear Alex...

How much better was he by the way?...She thought she might be able to spend the night after  
all...

He'd take the risk, he assured her...Happily...

Willow went out to telegraph Warren at the paper...To let him know she would not be in on  
Sunday...And to let her intern, Miss Macluay work with the Sunday edition...Or else...

Alex smiled at her as she left his room...

Pressure on our conservative clients, eh...Yeah...That ought to do it...

It was amazing...Destroying the Sentinel was becoming almost as much fun for him as building it  
up had been...

But of course it was all for Social Advancement, Progress...Some few of the clients being sure to  
cave in before the backlash began...

And of course...His marriage...

Willow would no doubt understand...The need for sacrifices to be made for any Progress to  
occur...Even if the family business should be lost on the Altar of Social Advancement...

***  
He really wasn't sure about this one...Walthrop noted to his wife...

It would be fine...She'd explain things to Miss DuBois later...The intrepid lady would no doubt  
appreciate her offer once she'd done so...

"Couldn't we just...Ask her?..." Walthrop looked at Buffy-Millie...

She had her reasons for a dramatic act, she told him...LeGrand had to think the damsel was in  
distress...To keep him in his current off-balance state...

He certainly was off-balance...Walthrop had to admit, looking over at a very nervous LeGrand  
who was still arguing with Miss DuBois...  
Who had now brought up her last gun...Which to her credit, she had hesitated to use...In spite of  
Angel's disappointing performance just a short time ago with the reporters...

The problem was...She sighed...He was afraid to have a Black woman along...A Black  
newswoman...The effect on his adoring Press and fans...

Miss DuBois...Angel took a lofty position...Had he not taken her halfway round the world?...In  
spite of her subterfuges...She could hardly accuse him of...

He didn't mind taking her when no one else knew...Even unchaperoned...She pointed out...

However...With his beloved and beloving Press in view again...

Hezekiah sensed the argument was not going as he'd of wished...The Boss was clearly  
weakening...And looking for an excuse to cave in...

He was so busy watching the outcome that he...Like Angel and Miss DuBois...Failed to notice  
the Hannibal Super Twin 8 moving up to them...

Until Buffy-Millie's smoke-screen surrounded them...

Miss DuBois felt herself being grabbed and lifted and screaming for help, swung  
out...Hitting...Something...Which or who...Went down...

"Miss DuBois!" Angel cried out...Unable to see her or anything else...

The smoke cleared, leaving a bevy of choking reporters and Russian onlookers, the Angel  
Special, Angel, and Hezekiah...

The Hannibal, the Walthrops, and Miss DuBois were gone...

"Hezekiah!..." Angel called...Throwing back his driving scarf in a determined and heroic pose...

"We must get after them immediately..."

Great...Thought Hezekiah...After we finally get rid of her...

In spite of their reservations about Miss DuBois, the reporters had to admire the manliness of  
their hero...As he set out in pursuit of the kidnappers and the poor damsel...

What a gallant soul...What a true hero...

What a man...

Walthrop did what he could for the unconscious Buffy-Millie as he drove...  
That was quite a left hook, he noted to Miss DuBois...Whom he had assured of their best  
intentions...Despite the rather over dramatic exit back there...

After all...She wanted to stay in the Race, right?...

Miss DuBois had reluctantly accepted the Walthrops' offer...Much as she would've preferred a  
proper chance to think it over...

They were following the line of the Trans-Siberian railroad across the Russian Empire...In cheery  
Siberia...

Desolate Siberia...Walthrop noted to Buffy-Millie...Who was studying maps...

She noted a cluster of houses ahead...If she didn't miss her guess...

"Lena...The next gasoline depot..." Miss DuBois noted...

Yes...Buffy-Millie agreed...A trifle sourly...

The sun was setting...It being Siberia...It was best to stop in town...Gas depot or not...

A large crowd was waiting quietly in the center of town...Obviously scouts had reported their  
coming...

Walthrop halted the car in the midst of the town square...The swelling crowd surrounded them...

Remaining completely silent as they watched the car...

Doesn't look great...Walthrop noted...

How does one say... "How do"...in Russian he wondered...

"Professor?..." Miss DuBois began... "Perhaps I..."

"Well...They clearly don't know who we are..." Buffy-Millie looked out at the crowd and stood  
up...

"I...Am Professor Fate!...One of the competitors in the Great Race Around the World..." she  
called out to the silent crowd...

The Russians continued to stare quietly...

She slunk back down...And turned to Walthrop...

"Should we...Give them something?...They say that makes savages friendly?..." she hissed...

He reflected...

Miss DuBois looked at her...

"Professor I hardly think these people will be won over by beads..."

Buffy-Millie glared at her...

"Well...What would you propose?..."

Miss DuBois stood up...A hair nervous...None of these people had clearly ever seen a black  
person before...

"Daspedanya, tovarich..." she went on to introduce themselves in perfect Russian as the Great  
Racers...

The crowd cheered...And surrounded the car shaking hands...

Standing in the car while doing their best to greet the well-wishers, Buffy-Millie and Walthrop  
looked questioningly at Miss DuBois...Who smiled at them while likewise shaking hands...

"I speak, read, and write...French, Arabic, and Russian..."

Walthrop bowed slightly and smiled...

Buffy-Millie glared at both of them...

"I speak French...A little..." she reminded William in a hiss...

And very well, dear...he noted...Continuing to watch Miss DuBois now the center of attention for  
a large group of the crowd...

A spokesperson came forward by Buffy-Millie and greeted them in very halting  
English...Welcoming the Racers to Siberia and praising their courage and their visit...As  
symbol of the friendship of the Russian Empire and the United America State...

Buffy-Millie smiled and nodded politely...This...Was a little more like it...

The Angel Special pulled up and was likewise surrounded by the jubilant crowds...

As they also shook as many hands as possible, Hezekiah pointed out the Walthrops and Miss  
DuBois...

Miss DuBois spotted them...And ignoring them, continued to shake hands...

"Hey...Boss...She don't look like she's been kidnaped..." Hezekiah noted...

Angel looked over to her...

"Madeleine...Miss DuBois..." he hollered...

She suddenly grabbed Walthrop and kissed him...

Buffy-Millie turned bright red...And starting the car, drove it forward a few feet through an  
opening being formed in the crowd, to allow them to reach the parking area for the night and  
their vital refueling...

She deliberately halted to knock Miss DuBois down into the back seat...

Walthrop sheepishly sat down beside her...The lady was just being friendly, sweet...

She glared straight ahead at the parking area, saying nothing...

"Just wanted Mr. LeGrand to know I was alright here, Professor..." Miss DuBois called to her...

Ummn...Buffy-Millie growled...

Bringing her along was your bright idea, dear...Walthrop noted to her, a trifle peeved now...

Though rather pleased...On two counts...

A rather pleasant kiss from the rather beautiful Miss DuBois...

And a very jealous wife...Definitely not taking him for granted for once...

His greetings to the cheering crowd as they parked and made their way to what seemed the town  
hall or assembly place were therefore...Quite enthusiastic...

He turned to Miss DuBois for help in properly greeting the Russians...

Which did not improve Buffy-Millie's mood...

She'd have to pose some questions in Physics and Engineering to our gracious lady, she  
thought...

That'd show him...Unless...Of course...

Though Miss DuBois didn't strike her as the mathematical type...One must not judge by  
appearance...

She was very beautiful...Will couldn't be...Interested...For as shallow as a reason as  
beauty?...And a little charm of manner?...Could he?...

Buffy-Millie nervously looked for a mirror as they were guided along...One just in front, on an  
old hut door...She looked as she passed...

Crummy old teeth prominent as ever...Hair a mess...Dress...Well, thank God it was her  
trademark, practical black...

And that Miss DuBois...Really so beautiful...

Her mood changed to a twinge of despair...She'd taken Will for granted...Gone on and on with  
this crazy obsession with Angel LeGrand...And now...She looked at him and Miss DuBois just  
ahead...

He was too short for the lady...She decided...Much too short...

It was just nerves on her part...And his annoyance with her on his...He just wanted to make her  
squirm a bit...Nothing to worry about...

She tried smiling at the crowds as they headed toward a large building...And waved a bit...

Of course...she thought...Miss DuBois was an intelligent young woman...She might well have  
enough good sense to see Max's worthy qualities...And...

She hurried her pace...

Angel and Hezekiah were some distance behind, being led likewise by their segment of the  
crowd...

Angel was a bit miffed...Neither Miss DuBois...Nor Millie...Seemed interested in him at all for  
the moment...

A unique experience for Angel LeGrand...

Yet More (Semi) Parallel Lives... "Great Race"...Part XV...

Miss DuBois was a reluctant eyewitness to a Cold War between the Walthrops as the Racers  
headed across Siberia...

Max naturally felt he was being treated quite unfairly...He...Who had tolerated this ridiculous  
fixation of his wife's on LeGrand for years...Encouraged her in her work...Supported her in  
defeat and disaster...

Now on top of everything...She was jealous?...Over someone she'd insisted on bringing with  
them?...

For her part...Buffy-Millie's annoyance was primarily based on guilt...Gnawingly deep  
guilt...After watching Angel's performance at the Russian coast...And realizing how close she'd  
come to joining him...Posing for those moronic reporters like that idiotic bag of...

And glimpsing, watching Angel so thoughtlessly betray his poor Miss DuBois...A little of what  
Max had been through all this time...

Though she'd never denied that she took him too much for granted...And had tried to make it up  
to him...At every opportunity...

He'd always understood how important proving her ideas and ability were to her...And  
encouraged her in her work...

And she hadn't fallen into the slime with Angel and his reporters...Earned her husband's  
embarrassed disappointment...

Yet she knew she'd been going overboard on this one...Dragging him around the world...At huge  
expense and great potential loss...Nearly getting them killed...Forcing him to commit...Shall we  
say, less than honorable deeds...Even to kill, if only in self-defense...

Though not all her fault, of course...

But she needed something to divert her from guilt...There was an important issue here, however  
much she'd let it get buried in her own anger at LeGrand...

She had to prove she could do this...She felt it in her bones...

Even if William couldn't help seeing Angel as the cause at bottom...

And Miss DuBois, radiant beauty, was just the thing to focus on to wear away a little of that  
guilt...

Plus...He'd kissed her...Well...Been kissed by her...But seemed rather to enjoy it...

How had these two stayed together nine years?...Miss DuBois wondered, watching the steady  
increase in daily mutual glares...

Now if she were ever so foolish as to get married...

***  
Hercule Le Grand's meeting with his "special operatives" had been delayed several times...

Most notably when it seemed the Racers had all been lost...

And in part due to the difficult of arranging a meeting...Their schedules being  
somewhat...Restricted...

But...Now...With the Race approaching its final leg...And with them in New York, preparing to  
cross to Europe...It was time to see what they might once again be able to do for him...And his  
boy...

Currently neck-and-neck in the struggle with Professor Fate...

And apparently unwilling to do what was clearly necessary to achieve victory...

And ensure the success of LeGrand Motors...

The soft fool...To have moral qualms at a time like this...

Clearly Father's helping hand was once again required...

Morovia...Gateway to Eastern and Central Europe...

A kingdom on the Russian border...Loosely associated with Austria-Hungary and on the direct  
road to Vienna...And Paris...

Rough mountains to begin with, then a beautiful central plain...Scene of numerous historical  
battles...

Buffy-Millie had chosen to avoid the capital...Sure to be an attempt at a welcoming reception,  
reporters demanding interviews, ridiculous delays...

Whatever was lost in mileage was sure to be made up in avoiding the fuss and nonsense...Which  
no doubt, LeGrand would be mired in...And loving it...

***  
Which naturally...He was...

Having entered the capital to the cheers of a waiting throng...Met by a delegation of officials and  
escorted by a troop of hussars of the royal cavalry...

Worshipful reporters at every turn...Naturally...

But...He did not see the one person he was expecting...Hopefully...To see...  
There was no sign of Miss DuBois...

No reports of another racer crossing the border...The lieutenant commanding his escort told  
him...

However, the eastern mountains were full of unwatched crossing points...The Walthrops might  
indeed be in Morovia now...Though they'd be sure to be detected soon...Especially with the  
increased internal security...

Owing to your upcoming coronation ceremonies...Angel diplomatically noted...Having perused  
newspapers and magazines for topics of interest in the countries he'd be passing through...

One must always be ready to show proper appreciation and respect for the customs and  
ceremonies of the little nations one is forced to travel through...

Yes...The lieutenant smiled...We were very pleased that your crossing came at this time...he told  
them.

Her Royal Highness is to be crowned in just two days...

***  
At the welcoming ceremonies, the Mayor of the capital confirmed Morovia's joy at the opportune  
arrival of the Great Racer, Angel LeGrand...So near to the joyous day of Her Royal Highness'  
coronation...

In fact, Her Royal Highness had a request...An invitation, really...

Would Mr. LeGrand be so kind as to accept her invitation to stay at the Royal Palace during his  
time in the capital?...With a reception that evening...

He would be more than honored...Both as to himself and in the name of the friendship between  
Morovia and the United States of America...

But of course...He went on...He was equally honored...Smiling his most dazzling smile at the  
throngs of eager young ladies facing him...To be a guest of the people of Morovia at this  
delightful ceremony...And at such a joyous time in their nation's history...

***

Miss Macluay was such a help in the office...Willow noted to Warren...Still severely bandaged  
after his mishap on the fourteenth floor ledge...

So bright and quick...So capable...

She didn't know how she'd have been able to handle running the Sentinel on her own without  
her...

And of course, Warren's indispensable help...

But Mears was troubled...This crazy scheme of putting pressure on their advertisers to hire  
women...Beginning with LeGrand Motors, builders of the Angel Special...

"We'll lose all their advertiz...Ma'am..." he noted, fearfully...

Nonsense...Willow told him...As Alex had agreed...They needed the Sentinel at least as much as  
the Sentinel needed them...

But...There are other papers...Lots of other papers...Didn't Mr. Harris consider?...

"Warren...Mr. Harris has given his experienced advice...And is in agreement with  
me...Moreover, I am running the Sentinel right now and the decision has been made...By me..."  
Willow told him sternly...

As for "other" papers...There are none like the Sentinel...

Miss Macluay returned from her errand to the printing room...Beaming at her boss...

A mutual glare exchanged between her and Mears...

"That will be all for now, Mears..." Willow dismissed him...

Muttering, Warren left...

Time to start calling his friends at the "other" papes he thought...The Sentinel was sinking fast  
and it behooved a wise man to know when to abandon ship...

"All well, Miss Macluay?..." Willow asked her intern...

The printers were objecting...To the announcement that the Sentinel would accept no ads from  
firms employing no women...

Surprisingly...Even the apprentice females thought it a bit overkill...

Willow frowned...Picking up the medieval attitudes of the elderly printers...Ridiculous...

Miss Macluay agreed...And had impressed on the printers that this was Mrs. Harris' order...Not a  
request...

Excellent...Willow thanked her...She could leave for her visit to Alex with a sense of  
accomplishment and anticipation...

"Are you heading up to Mr. Harris' place tonight?..." Miss Macluay asked...With a shy smile...

Indeed...She was looking forward to a longer visit than she'd had time for in a while...Poor  
Alex...She'd been neglecting him a little what with all the excitement...

The children had finally been given permission to see him and were already on their way...In the  
care of Alex's mother and servants...

Alex's mother...Willow noted to Miss Macluay with a grin...Was gradually wearing down her  
intense prejudice...Someday she might even be capable of addressing her directly...

But she did love her grandchildren...

It must be very difficult for her...Miss Macluay noted...To live with such...Limited people...

Well...It takes time for people to adjust to new ideas, new people...Willow noted...

But thank God for dear Alex...

Hmmn...Miss Macluay frowned a bit...Not that she had anything against Mr. Harris...But...

Surely it was confining...To be so limited in her...Relationships...

With Alex?...Willow chucked...

Endlessly diverting, I assure you...

Marriage...She went on to her protege...Can be a wonderful thing...If the two involved share  
common interests, affections...

And a deep and abiding love...

Hmmn...Perhaps...Miss Macluay frowned again...However...

There were other ways for human beings to relate to each other...

In far less...Confining...And...Limited...Ways...

Really?...Willow asked...Looking at her protege...

Who was looking at her...In a rather...Curious...Way...

Angel and Hezekiah had been led in their car to the Royal Palace by a jubilant crowd with the  
hussars in the lead...

The Angel Special secured in a royal garage...They were shown to their luxurious quarters in the  
west wing of the palace by a butler in a rather formal uniform covered in medals...

Her Royal Highness would receive at seven...With dinner at eight-thirty...The butler told  
them...Until then they were welcome to tour the palace and attached royal museum...With the  
staff at their service...

He bowed, clicking heels...Angel bowed slightly...Hezekiah attempted a bow...

***

The Walthrops and their guest had run into...A leetle trouble...

In form of a troup of fierce-looking Morovian cavalry...

And in a most inopportune moment...Buffy-Millie groaned...

Just when she and Max had been...On the verge...Of...What she'd hoped to be a delightful  
reconciliation...

***

They'd stopped for water and a chance to clean up a bit...By the banks of the scenic river  
Morovia...

Miss DuBois had requested a chance to bathe...Two solid weeks across Siberia without a bath...

Buffy-Millie decided to join her...After ordering Max to stay by the car...

Who, in his present state of mind, did not take kindly to receiving peremptory orders...

They were intelligent, mature people...Of the early twentieth century...he noted...

No reason why they couldn't all share the comfort of some river bathing...

After all...She was actually a woman of the late twentieth/early twenty-first century...According  
to her tales...And the late twentieth/early twenty-first century was a time of great Social  
Advancement...And Progress...In all areas...

Including male-female relationships...And the lifting of foolish and needless taboos...

Ummn...Well...She looked at him sideways...

Someone has to watch the car...

He noted she was perfectly capable of doing that she herself...While he joined Miss DuBois...

In her state of mind it took a moment for her to realize he was enjoying her discomfort...

And stalk off towards an isolated corner of the river, muttering...

Max watched after her but decided to put his frustration to good use and scrub down the  
car...Which sorely needed a cleaning...

***  
On finding Miss DuBois alone at her branch of the river on her return...Oh, pardonez-  
moi...Buffy-Millie had been relieved enough to seek Walthrop back at the car...

She'd known he wouldn't...

Really...

And found him hard at scrubbing the car...And employing a series of rather colorful oaths...

So wrapped up in it...That he did not see his wife's approach...And tossed a bucket of dirty suds  
in her general direction...Drenching her...

And for once...Leaving her quite speechless...

***  
Hearing wordless screams of rage...Clearly coming from Professor Fate...Miss DuBois decided to  
wait things out by the riverbank...

Something...Two somethings...Streaked by her waiting place...Spattering a trail of filthy water...  
The one behind rather taller...And tossing things at the first...

Until both plunged into the river Morovia...

Which plunge occurred just as Buffy-Millie remembered that like her counterpart a century from  
now...She'd never learned to swim...

Which was why she had invented a superior life-jacket in the first place...None unfortunately...Or  
perhaps...Fortunately...At hand...

William pulled her gurgling self out as she went down for the second time...And heaved her onto  
the bank...

She decided it was time for a touch of the melodramatic...Between gasps for air...  
"Why...Didn't...You...Just...Let...Me drown?..." she asked him, trying to seem as shattered and  
heart-broken as possible under the circumstances...

Hmmn...Hadn't really thought about it, dear...These things operate on reflex action, generally...

"M...m...Max!"

Take a breath, sweetheart...

"You alright now?..." he looked her up and down...As she lay on the bank...Staring up at him...

Ummn-hmmn...She nodded, coughing a bit...

"You...you..." she gasped a little...He looked expectantly, but resigned...More complaints  
regarding the water bucket...

He'd explained it was an accident...Not intentional...He hadn't been expecting her to come  
stalking back so soon...

"You...Looked so...Cute..." she caught her breath...

"Running like that..." she grinned at him...

You see...He grinned back at her...It's like I've always told you...

When you smile like that...No one notices the teeth...

She pulled him down on top of her...

Just as Miss DuBois...Who'd started up from her bathing spot...Was dragged over to them...  
Kicking and trying to scream through the hand over her mouth...

Saved...At least from walking in on the Walthrops' little lovenest...By the cavalry, no less...

The Morovian cavalry...

The cavalry lieutenant in charge of the troop peered at Buffy-Millie...And a photo he held in  
hand...Smiling...

Amazing...

Count von Hellsdorf was a genius...the lieutenant reflected...

This scheme might actually work...He looked again at Buffy-Millie...

Incredible...Who would have thought...There could be two such...

He signaled to his men to release Miss DuBois...Who ran over to Buffy-Millie and Max...  
The Walthrops and Miss DuBois stared at him...

You are under arrest...As possible foreign spies...he informed them...

"Spies?...Don't be ridiculous...Who's your superior?..." Buffy-Millie demanded...

They would be learning that soon enough he told them...

"We're Americans...Engaged in the Great Around the World Race..." Walthrop noted... "We  
demand to speak to our consulate..."

The lieutenant sighed and signed to his men...Who dismounted and moved in on them...

"My husband is a personal friend of President Teddy Roosevelt!..."

General Seidelmann, commander of the Morovian army, about sixty, white-haired and stiff,  
greeted the distinguished Angel Le Grand and his partner, guests of her Royal Highness, as the  
reception began...

Her Highness would make her entrance momentarily...he informed them...

Angel bowed politely...They were very anxious to thank her Royal Highness for her gracious  
hospitality and the enthusiastic welcome they'd received in Morovia, he noted...

Yes...The General looked at him, clearly sizing him up...

Not one for small talk...Angel noted...

A few ladies and gentlemen of the court now joined them...

One noble lady politely asked Angel if he would be staying for the coronation...

The General looked at him rather narrowly...

Indeed...Angel noted...He was looking forward to attending the ceremony...Both as a  
representative of the American people and as the guest of the Morovian government...

"But Mr. LeGrand...If you stay for the coronation..." the General asked... "Won't you lose  
valuable time to your opponent in your endeavor?..."

There had been no reports of Professor Fate's arrival in Morovia as yet...LeGrand pointed  
out...Besides...  
Winning...Angel noted...With a dazzling smile for the ladies...Is only valuable if done with  
the proper style...To win too easy is to win...Nothing...

"There we must disagree, my dear Mr. LeGrand..." the General replied, smiling faintly... "In my  
profession, to win is everything..."

"To win easily...A blessing..."

Angel nodded and bowed...

Trumpets sounded, announcing the arrival of her Royal Highness...

A tall, well-dressed in ermine-robes, somewhat ungainly young woman entered...Staggering a  
bit...

Her ladies behind tittered just a bit...

Oh my God...Angel looked at her...Millie...Her identical twin...Right down to those teeth...

"But Boss...That's..." Hezekiah gasped, Angel cutting him off...

"No it's not..." LeGrand hissed...

Her Royal Highness Irina Solovda Theodora Anne nodded graciously, nervously smiling at  
Angel and Hezekiah as she passed...

Millie...To a T...If she were dressed in something other than black...And was in a rather pleasant  
mood...

Although she seemed disposed to chat a bit with the reception guests...Her attendants seemed  
rather anxious to cut the reception greetings to the barest minimum...

She however did insist on having the two Americans presented...A request Angel was pleased to  
comply with...After warning Hezekiah to best behavior...

Would he stay to chat after dinner?...She was very-hic-anxious to chat with the Great  
Angel...Staggering a bit...

Very happy to accept her invitation, Angel replied...And if he might say so, glad to present her  
with the greetings and best-wishes of the people of the United States of America...

Ummn-hic-hmmn...her Royal Highness looked at him...Definitely-hic-as cute as his pictures in  
the papers...

Hmmn...Hezekiah watched her...If he didn't know better...And he didn't...He'd of said her Royal  
Highness was...Rather...

She seemed anxious not to let LeGrand go...Which Angel noted, the General had noticed...And  
seemed somewhat displeased about...

He came over and briefly whispered in her Royal Highness' ear...She reluctantly stood up,  
smiling again at LeGrand...

Time-hic-to go in...Hope you like dinner...she noted...

The General hurriedly signaled for all to enter the main hall for the state dinner...As her Highness  
was led in by two footmen...

And stumbling, nearly fell...Caught in the nick of time by General Seidelmann...Who, Angel  
noted, as he followed close behind with Hezekiah, had almost seemed disposed to let her fall...

***  
Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XVI

The Walthrops and Miss DuBois found themselves at a large and ancient  
fortress castle...Under the careful guard of the hussars of the Royal Morovian  
Cavalry...With deluxe accomodation...

An authentic working dungeon no less...

All three still loudly demanding the presence of the American  
consul...Insisting on their rights as American citizens...Buffy-Millie and  
the forthright Miss DuBois competing for loudest cries...

Which temporarily quieted only when the lieutenant who'd captured them  
informed them pleasantly that while he would never take action against ladies...His  
men would be only too happy to try a little target practice on Mr.  
Walthrop...Shot while refusing to obey their orders to halt...A sad incident...

But it does happen...Quite a lot in Eastern Europe, the lieutenant  
noted...And it's amazing how badly damaged some of the corpses get...In  
front...Considering they were supposedly shot at a distance while fleeing border guards...

They quieted down...

***  
Willow Harris' scheme for improving the lot of Women was hitting some heavy  
surf...Although a couple of clients did make at least a vague gesture by  
hiring a few more lower-level female employees, most simply transferred their  
accounts to the other New York papers... Moreover, the termination of reports by M.  
DuBois from the Angel Special...Due to LeGrand Motor Works' refusal to  
employ female workers in their factory...Caused major dissatisfaction among the  
readership, now well and truly hooked on that forthright lady's reports...

Miss Macluay had suggested they simply censor Miss DuBois'  
reports...Dropping all mention of LeGrand and the Angel Special...Which Willow, champion of a  
free press like her husband, could not do...

Besides every one of Miss DuBois' stories featured long accounts of Angel's  
activities...And she was, after all, riding in the Angel Special...

So...It was a very welcome relief to learn that Miss DuBois had transferred  
to Professor Fate's Hannibal Super Twin8...

But...Without the unspoken, but barely hinted tension of Miss DuBois and  
Angel LeGrand...Together in the same car...Miss DuBois relating the minute details  
of their travels...

Angel chasing off bears in Canada...The two of them hunting their meals  
together in the vast forests...Dinner with Mr. LeGrand by a lovely, quiet  
river...Strolling around a lonely mountain pasture, together...Mr. LeGrand  
seeing to her comfort as they retired for the night...Well...

Some of the fascination the public had felt...Faded...

Ridiculous, Willow felt...Millie and Will are as romantic a couple as you  
could get...They just go for the understated approach...

Indeed, Miss DuBois' reports from the Hannibal across Siberia had carried  
some of the tension between Buffy-Millie and Max...And had perhaps harped a bit  
too much on dear Mil's "practical" mode of dress...The harsh conditions of the  
trip...Even Millie's insistence on detailed scientific observation was taken  
by the public as the natural attitude of a dreary bluestocking female  
"professor"...

Then, after they finally left bleak Siberia...And Willow hoped for more  
"pleasing" reports...Silence...

Not a word since they'd crossed the Morovian border...Whereas Angel...

His beloving reporters now back in strength...Was being feted in grand style  
as the official guest of the Morovian government...To attend a royal  
coronation, no less...

Damn Millie...Willow knew exactly what she was up to...Dodging round the  
capital by back roads...Avoiding all the fuss and feathers...And keeping her  
reporter from getting exactly the kind of stories that would bring their  
readership back in droves...

Just once...Couldn't she have made allowances and accepted a little  
fluff?...Hell, her husband was Teddy Roosevelt's old buddy...They could have  
been appointed official US representatives to the coronation...

And there was the fact of the Princess...Her Royal Highness...Whose picture  
Willow had only just seen...Not having all that great an interest in foreign  
aristocracy...

Millie's spitting image...What a story...And a chance to see a version of  
her at least in something not "practical"...

And her star reporter was nowhere to be found...

In addition, Mrs. Harris had concerns on the home front...Well, the office  
had always been an extension of home, sort of, and even more now that she was in  
charge...Officially as well as literally...

Concerns centering around Alex...Whose health was slowly improving...But who  
was clearly enjoying the steady collapse of the Sentinel...Despite his  
attempts to feign concern...

She was beginning to suspect his approval of her recent actions was not  
based on the belief that they were wise moves for the paper's future...

And Miss Macluay...Whose personal attentions to Willow were becoming...A  
leetle much...

Just a bit...Unnerving...Though Willow did her best to put them down to the  
young woman's enthusiasm for the Cause...She couldn't help wondering...After  
all, she'd heard of some women, a few rumored to be in the Movement (usually  
by rabid opponents of Womens' Rights) who engaged in...Well...Different sorts  
of relationships than the traditional...

Not an easy time for the new editor-in-chief and publisher...

***

The Princess had made a point of dancing with LeGrand at the brief ball  
following the state dinner...

Despite efforts by General Seidelmann and several others to distract her...  
Considering her overall dancing ability...Or lack thereof...Compounded by  
her now clearly inebriated condition...It was not surprising that her people  
should wish to keep her under close watch...However...

It seemed to Angel that watch did not appear to be entirely that of devoted  
and faithful friends and servants...At least in the case of General Seidelmann  
and several around him...Who seemed if anything to wish to encourage her  
behavior while keeping her away from anyone who might discreetly intervene to protect  
her reputation...

Like the gentlemanly Mr. LeGrand...

No, it was more like the watching of vultures, circling a stricken prey...

Her Royal Highness, General Seidelmann, and several members of the court had  
retired...With their famed American guests, Angel and Hezekiah, to a small  
chamber...

Where the Princess rather eagerly...And over a certain discreet objection by  
the General and a few of her ladies...Ordered brandies round...

It was clear that she had been sampling from the stock for some time  
already...

In the more relaxed atmosphere, Hezekiah allowed himself a question  
regarding the Princess' remarkable resemblance to someone they knew...Did she...By any chance...Have folks in the States?...

"Folks?...In States?..." her Royal Highness blinked at him...

"Your Highness..." Angel put in... "My friend Hezekiah was referring to the  
fact that you bear a striking resemblance to an acquaintance of ours...From  
America..."

"Resemblance...To-hic-an American?...Oooh-hic-how jolly..." she laughed...

Scanning the room...At her court members...Who immediately picked up on her  
laugh...Even the General, albeit rather reluctantly...

She waved her hand, immediately silencing the room...Hezekiah and Angel  
looking at the others, a bit startled...

Hmmn...Definitely a degree of resentment on the part of the General, Angel  
noted...Perhaps understandable...Yet...  
She took Angel by the arm, strolling around the room...

One new face in the group stepped forward at her urging...

Dark-haired and sleekly handsome, perhaps late twenties...Resplendent in his  
uniform...Smiling coolly at the Americans...

"Mr. LeGrand, Count Rolf von Hellsdorf...My-hic-cousin, a few times  
removed..." the Princess grinned at Hellsdorf...Who smiled back...

"Rolfee, where-hic-have you been?..." she asked him... "I thought you'd be  
missing the whole evening..."

"You've been a naughty boy...Haven't you?..." she teased... "A  
new-hic-rendevous?..."

Do tell...she tapped his shoulder...

Hellsdorf chuckled, while looking Angel over carefully...

"A gentleman, My dear Highness...Cannot betray the confidence of a lady..."

Rolfee is the greatest swordsman in Morovia, probably in Europe...the  
Princess told Angel...

"Not to mention the greatest rogue...Right-hic-Rolfee?..." she smiled at the  
Count...

Who bowed, grinning...But continuing to size up LeGrand...Clearly sensing a  
rival...Especially in the adoring attitude of the court ladies present...

The smooth type, Hezekiah noted...Lap dog variety...

Did Mr. LeGrand practice the sword?...Hellsdorf asked causally...Not many  
Americans had a taste for the steel, he went on...With a trace of  
contempt...

Religiously Angel told him...

"Ah, then perhaps we may take a match together at some point while you are  
here..." Hellsdorf smiled thinly...

Nothing would give him greater pleasure, Count...Angel bowed slightly to  
him...

They resumed their stroll, Hellsdorf now on the Princess' opposite side...

The General and several around him joined them...

"What makes you so great?...You great Angel you..." the Princess asked  
suddenly, pausing...Smiling at Angel...

Realizing she was not being sarcastic...Angel smiled pleasantly back...

"Greatness...Your Royal Highness...Is an accolade conferred on men too long  
dead to appreciate it...For services usually not worthy of the title..."

"I am simply...Angel..." he bowed... "And...I'm at your Highness'  
service..."

The Princess stared at him...Blinking...

Oooh...

"He's good..." she acknowledged to Count von Hellsdorf...Who smiled coldly  
at Angel...

She got a locket from her purse...Displaying a portrait of a rather handsome  
young man...

Bearing a startling resemblance...To Teddy Roosevelt's distant cousin  
Franklin, Angel noticed...

This...She announced to Angel and Hezekiah...Was Crown Prince Rwupert...er  
Rupert...

Her betrothed...And future king...

They presented their compliments...A fine-looking young man, Angel  
noted...Rather like another friend of theirs he noted...

He was sure they'd be very...

"Oh..." the Princess cut in with a deep sigh...

He doesn't like me much...She noted sadly...Hic-cupping discretely...

Yep...Soused...Hezekiah thought...

The General and Count von Hellsdorf moved immediately to refuse her  
statement...

The Crown Prince was very fond of her...Was awaiting their upcoming nuptials  
eagerly...

Angel nodded diplomatically...Of course...

Aristocrats...Hezekiah thought...What a way to run a country...

***

The lieutenant had returned with a group of guards...And entered the  
Walthrops' cell to seize Buffy-Millie...Who grabbed desparately at Will, the bars, the  
door...

God, for my old Slayer strength right now...Just for ten minutes...

"Where are you taking her?..." Walthrop, thrown back...yelled...

"Millie!..."

"Will!...I love you...You leggo of me, you!..."

Ow! Screamed the bitten guard...

"Buffy!...I swear I'll hunt you all down if anything happens to her!..."  
Walthrop screamed at the lieutenant and guards...Smashing at the cell  
door...

They ignored him, dragging her, protesting violently, down the corridor...

Miss DuBois added her voice to Walthrop's cries...Both again demanding the  
presence of the American consul...

To no avail...

Buffy?...Miss DuBois thought...Mr. Walthrop calls the Professor...Buffy?...

Oddest pet name I ever heard of...Still...Somehow it seems familiar...

***  
As the evening came to a close, the Princess reminded Angel of the Grand  
Ball the next evening...She-hic-hoped he'd be in attendance...And attend-hic-to  
dance...Hee-hic-hee...

Triggering another forced laugh throughout the room...

Angel noted Count von Hellsdorf seemed no more pleased than General  
Seidelmann at being required to participate...Though he covered his  
annoyance...Smoothly...

He smiled at her Royal Highness and promised that he would indeed be in  
attendance...And would hope for the chance to attend to her in dance...

She grinned and bowed slightly...Clearly pleased...

And, looking round the room, perhaps more aware than one might have thought  
of how little her court thought of her...

The General signalled that the evening was at an end...Despite an obvious  
reluctance on the Princess' part to let her fascinating American guests  
leave...

Do we go to America on the post-coronation tour?...she paused to ask General  
Seidelmann...Clearly hoping to stretch the evening out a bit longer...

"Certainly your Royal Highness..." the General told her... "But I think we  
should discuss your travel itinerary tomorrow...You must be exhausted...As  
no doubt, are our guests..." he smiled at the Americans...

"I have to-hic-go to bed now..." the Princess reluctantly noted to Angel...

Her ladies returned to assist her with her train as she prepared to leave...

All rose...

"Well...Goodnight, you good Angel you...Sleep tight and don't let the  
bedbugs bite..." she extended her hand to him...

And please save the first waltz for me...she asked...Rather sweetly, Angel  
noted...

Millie on a good day, really...That one specially good day, back in  
1897...he thought...

He bowed and kissed her hand dutifully...Hezekiah likewise bowed...The  
Princess and her ladies paraded out...

Count von Hellsdorf watched his distant cousin leave...With a rather  
disdainful stare...  
And turned to Angel...

"My dear cousin is quite taken with you, Mr LeGrand...I hope you will  
continue to impress with your...Unique...Qualities..." A slightly contemptuous  
smile...

Angel bowed and smiled...Coolly...

General Seidelmann came over, having seen her Highness off...

"Well, Mr. LeGrand...I trust you do understand her Highness' behavior was  
simply natural... nervousness' at the approaching coronation..."

He'd seen nothing but delightful charm and kindness in her Highness'  
behavior, Angel gallantly informed him...

Yes...The General smiled...A touch frostily...

"Of we all miss her dear and beloved parents...Her father was the model of a  
king, her mother carried on nobly after his death...Yes, both every  
inch...Rulers...Fit for a throne..." his voice was a touch wistful...

As is her Royal Highness Angel noted, smiling...

Yes...Of course...Again a frosty smile...

He and Hezekiah made their good-evenings to the group and left for their  
rooms...

***  
In the long hallway leading to her suite, the Princess, stumbling a bit,  
halted the train near a series of large portraits of her royal ancestors...Ending  
with her own parents...And dismissed her ladies...Who hesitated to leave her...As  
she was...Perhaps...In need of their services...

"I can-hic-undress myself, you know..." she glared at them a bit...

Definitely the image of Millicent Fate...

But recovering her usual kind nature, she hugged several of her ladies and  
sent them off to their quarters...And turned to face the grim-faced portraits of  
her two royal parents...Unbending and inflexible as they had been in life...

"Oh-hic-daddy...I got a leetle drunk this evening-hic-Ummn-hic-I'm  
sorry...Mummy-hic-don't be angry with me...I'll be very regal for the  
cor-hic-onation..."

Oh...Mummy...He doesn't love me at all...We don't even like-hic-each  
other...Why-hic-do I have to marry him?...You and-hic-daddy at least shared  
some things...

"Rupert-hic-collects stamps-hic-I hate stamps...And he likes-hic-pretty  
women...Like old Rolfe...I'll be miserable all my-hic-life..."

"I-hic-know, daddy...Duty-hic-dooty...Yuck...Well, I'm pooped now...We'll  
talk-hic-hic-later..."

Good night mummy, daddy...She stumbled off into her suite of rooms...

Some of her stumbling perhaps influenced by the effects of a powerful  
narcotic...

***  
Hercule LeGrand was meeting with his "special" operatives in New  
York...Before they left with family for Europe...

"My dears...Always a pleasure..." he smiled congenally...

"We can't stay long..." the girl looked at him... "What is it you want  
now?...We've already told you we not going to try anymore..."

Direct little thing...he noted...Pity I can't have her tossed out the tenth  
floor window...

"My dear girl...We both share a common goal...To see Professor Fate out of  
this race...And her ridiculous competition with my boy ended..."

We don't know that...the boy put in...Maybe she's going to win this  
one...And that will settle things...

And even if she does win, my boy...LeGrand noted...She'll never be  
satisfied...She'll keep on this crazy pursuit...And you know very well  
why...

No...She doesn't love him...She loves Will...the boy insisted...

That was a matter for debate, LeGrand smiled at him...But...If that was  
true...

"All the more reason to keep her as far away from my boy as possible..."  
Hercule looked at the boy... "For her childrens' sakes...As well as Mr.  
Walthrop's..."

I suppose bopping this geezer one isn't something Millie or Will or the cops  
would ok...the boy thought reluctantly...

Anyway...the girl continued...We're well and out of it...

"Are you indeed, dear?...I wonder what the dear Professor and her husband  
would think...If they're learned of your assistance' in derailing her past  
efforts?...I would guess...Neither of them would be...Pleased..."

I knew he'd pull this, the boy thought...

"I told you we couldn't trust him..." he told his sister...

She however returned LeGrand's stare coolly...

"We couldn't do anything now even if we wanted to...It's too late..." she  
told him...

Nonsense...They would in France long before the race ended...And the  
Walthrops would have to follow the designated route for the last 100 miles or  
so...Should they still be in the lead at that time...

There ought to be plenty of time to take...Action...And surely...Of all  
people...They could get close enough...

Millie and Will would know in a minute something was up if we showed  
up...the girl pointed out...

"I'm sure...My dear...You and your brother here could think up some excuse  
for meeting them early...A devoted desire to help them, perhaps..."

"Or would you prefer I leave it to my more...Unscrupulous...Operatives?..."  
LeGrand asked with a grandfatherly smile...

The boy rose...We could call in the police, you know...he put on a bold  
front...

Yes...LeGrand smiled...I'm sure the police would be fascinated by your  
tales...Not to mention your past involvement...

By the way have you met any of my "friends" in the New York Police  
Department?...Say... Commissioner Waldo, for example?...Or the state  
judiciary?...

I should introduce you to several Congressmen I know...Young people like you  
should get to know powerful people who can help...Or hurt...you in the  
future...

Amelia looked at Phil...He looked back...

"We have to protect them, Phil..." she told him...

***  
Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... Great Race 1906 ...Part XVII

Hezekiah had decided to slip out and check on the Angel Special before retiring...

God knew what those furreners had done to the car...However well meaning...

But on the walk to the royal garage he encountered the strange spectacle of several men bearing a large, dark bundle out of a small side door of the palace...

A human body-sized bundle...

Which let out an audible if faint moan as the group came nearer...

He hailed them...And saw that the smooth Count von Hellsdorf was one...

Just before something struck him from behind...Knocking him unconscious...

***

Buffy-Millie had been locked alone in her cell for the better part of two hours when she had a visitor...Clearly Mr. In-Charge, judging by his resplendent uniform...

Who looked her over from head to toe, grinning...

Professor Fate-Walthrop?... he bowed slightly...

I am Count Rolf von Hellsdorf...

Nice to meet you...I demand to see the American counsul and my husband...she told him...

All in due time, my dear lady...

A tall, white-haired, equally well-uniformed if less splashy, fellow now entered the area by her cell...

May I present General Seidelmann, commander of our armed forces... von Hellsdorf waved at the General...

Charmed...I demand to see the American counsul and my husband...she told him...

Remarkable...the General told von Hellsdorf...Looking Buffy-Millie up and down...

Hmmn...She thought as they continued to stare...Fans?...People who know me from Buffy's dimension?...They don't look like the Master or any other old enemy...Though you never know...

Maybe...Just perverts...Could be in Eastern Europe they go for tall, buck-toothed American blondes...

Enough already...Creeps...Of the aristocrat variety...

I demand to see... she began again...

Yes, yes...the General interrupted...

Sadly we cannot permit you to consult with your consul at this time...However your husband and your other...friend...are being brought down...In addition... he nodded at the Count...

We would like to introduce you to a friend of ours... the Count smiled at her...

***  
They led Buffy-Millie, under guard, to another group of cells...Two already occupied...

One...By Max and Miss DuBois...

Millie!... Walthrop called to her...

I'm ok, Will... she told him...

Just dealing with a couple of aristocratic pervs here...she thought...

The Count signalled his men to bring forward...The implements...

This place was once famous as the hideous scene of many a brutal torture, Professor...The old Turkish Empire, the Inquistition, the old Morovian kings all had great sport here... he looked over...The implements...With what was clearly great satisfaction...

The General, as befitting a man of Honor, frowned a bit at the Count's frivilous behavior...The associations one must take on when one is saving one's country, he sighed to himself...Still...  
For the good of Morovia...

Walthrop and Miss DuBois loudly demanded the presence of the American consul...Miss DuBois noting that as an American journalist...

The Count delightedly held up a pair of tongs...Excellent for tongue or eye removal he noted...

Especially when heated to just the right temperature...

Miss Dubois and Buffy-Millie looked at him from their respective cells...Yep, perv hits it right on the nose...

General Seidelmann was a hair embarassed...Really...he thought...A bit much...Well, von Hellsdorf would have to go the moment the coup succeeded...

No point in overthrowing an incompetent Queen to replace her with a deranged sadist...

Pity...But even the best of royal families inevitably hits a lousy generation or two...

***  
He managed to persuade the grinning Count to attend to the task at hand...

They had another guest to introduce...In particular to Professor Fate...

Count von Hellsdorf grinned at Buffy-Millie...Pointing at the unconscious Princess...

Professor Millicent Fate-Walthrop...Allow me to present her Royal Highness, Princess Irina Solovda Theodora Anne...Our beloved future Queen...

***  
Buffy-Millie looked blank-eyed at her Royal Highness...Exchanged a look with Walthrop...Then back at the General and the Count...

You want me to what?...Take her place?...

Hellsdorf and the General smiled at her...

The Professor lives up to her reputation, Hellsdorf leered...

You've got to be kidding... she looked at them...

Not at all...The Count smiled...

It'll never work...

On the contrary...The General noted...

I won't do it... she said firmly...

Hellsdorf and the General exchanges smiles...

Then you leave us no alternative... the General told her calmly...And pulling out a gun, pointed it at Walthrop...

I'll do it...she said quickly...

Sweetheart...Walthrop looked at her...I don't think this is such a good idea...

It'll be fine, Will... she told him...Besides, I can't let em shoot you...

They're going to anyway...They'll have to...All of us...

Not at all, the General assured them...Once Buffy-Millie was crowned, abdicated the throne, and entrusted the country to a new government headed by himself and the Count...Owing to her public acceptance of her lack of fitness for governing...The real Princess would be exiled...Alive...Along with Crown Prince Rupert...And the Walthrops and their friend could continue on their merry way...

The Count and the General would be secure in the knowledge that the blessings of their good government would win over public opinion...And that the Walthrops would be risking extradiction to and, eventually, execution in, Morovia if they should ever be so foolish as to admit their part in the plot...

As for any complaints on the part of the exiled Queen...Well, royalty abdicating and later trying to revoke that abdication was nothing new in Europe...And no one was likely to lift a finger to support her cause once the new government was in place...

They had...His solemn oath on it...

Like the oath you must have sworn to her Royal Highness?...Buffy-Millie did not say...Glaring at him...

Still...With a gun at Will's head...Not much to be done about it...

Besides...An absolute Queen...And this country does not seem to be a constitutional monarchy...Can have people...Arrested, imprisoned...Shot...she thought...With pleasure...

And of course...There is the little matter of your opponent, Mr. LeGrand... the Count leered...  
Angel?...Buffy-Millie blinked at him...

We would be happy to find...Reasons for his detention...For a week...Perhaps two... General Seidelmann smiled...

In fact...Hellsdorf continued...Owing to Mr. LeGrand's assistant's unfortunate incident in happening on the scene of her Royal Highness' removal from the palace, arrest charges were already being prepared against the Great Angel...And he would shortly be in custody...Charged with plotting against the life of her Highness...

An unfortunate mistake by the security forces during an uncertain time...

Hmmn...Fringe benefit, eh...

Don't seem to have a choice, Will... she called...

He looked at the sneering Hellsdorf...

Hey, there, you overdressed doorman...Why don't you come in this cell and settle this in a fair fight?...You twit's descendant...

Hellsdorf looked little Max over...

I never fight with...Pygmies and peasants, little fellow...

He signed for the guards to take Walthrop away...

Buffy-Millie gave him her best contemptuous glare...A preety good one with those teeth...

You wouldn't last a minute with him...In a fair fight...

He looked at her evenly and coolly...Smiling just with the lips...

Well, she thought...They are going to kill us...Not much doubt about that now...

The General frowned at them and suggested they move on to more practical matters...There was very little time...

***

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... Great Race 1906 ...Part XVIII

Angel was a bit perturbed to find it was not Hezekiah hammering at the door of their suite...

He was even more perturbed to find that it was a troop of royal guards...With orders for his arrest...

Charge...Suspicion of plotting against the life of her Royal Highness...The captain commanding the guards informed him...

Ridiculous... Angel snorted...

The captain shrugged...Orders are orders...

No doubt a mistake that would be quickly rectified...But, for now...If Mr. LeGrand would be so kind...

Who preferred the charges?... Angel asked, looking carefully at the captain...

The order was issued by General Siedelmann, but approved by her Highness'...the captain told him...

He causally showed Angel the arrest order...The Princess' signature...Or one purporting to be hers in the right corner, Siedelmann's at left...

And my assistant?...Angel asked...

Already in custody I'm informed... the captain looked at him...

Same charge...

Angel shook his head...But for propriety's sake agreed to go with the captain and his guard...

Who took him to an old fortess, still used on occassion for special prisoners, several miles from the Hellsdorf castle where the Walthrops', Miss Dubois, and Hezekiah were being helded...

He was placed in an ancient cell once used for political prisoners...The General being a man with a certain degree of ironic humor...

No Hezekiah...In fact no one, except the captain and guards...

Naturally as had the Walthrops and Miss DuBois before him...LeGrand also pointed out that he was an American citizen and demanded to see the American consul...

Likewise to no avail...

Miss DuBois had been brought to join Walthrop back in their original cell area, she in the cell adjoining his...

General Seidelmann had taken Buffy-Millie to the west wing of the fortress to dress, after which he would smuggle her into the palace...Hellsdorf staying behind...

The General having felt the Count's talents would be best employed in keeping the prisoners quiet...

Besides the Count was himself rather anxious to pay a call on his own distinguished guest, the Great Angel...Now safely locked in the dungeon of his family's older castle just up the road...

***

Miss DuBois had suggested the window bars of Walthrop's cell might be a little weak...Old fortress castles are usually not well maintained...And old mortar gets crumbly...

Try the one in the middle...That'll leave a wide space... Miss DuBois noted...

Interesting that he got the room with a window view, she thought...

On the other hand, she really couldn't say the Morovians had treated her worse than the others...

So..Walthrop nodded to Miss DuBois...Like this?...He began twisting the bar back and forth with

The bar popped out, Walthrop staring at it...

It worked... he noted...

Can you squeeze through the opening now?...Miss DuBois asked him

Ummn...He tried to force his narrow frame through...No luck...

Well, getting started on a second bar would probably be a good idea... Miss DuBois noted...

A guard poked his nose in...Walthrop hid the loose bar behind his back...Oooh, Miss DuBois suddenly groaned...Collapsing to the floor...

The guard looked at her...Walthrop looked at her...

Oh...Walthrop thought...There's no way to her cell except through mine...

A radical change of plan...Quick-thinking lady, he noted...Rather like my Millie...

The guard called out to her...She did not respond...

Better look to the lady... Walthrop noted... I doubt if your bosses will be pleased if she dies due to your neglect...  
The guard entered his cell, pistol drawn and waved him back as he went over to Miss DuBois' cell door...

Walthrop nodded pleasantly, stepped back, keeping the bar behind his back...And when Miss DuBois startled the guard by letting out a shriek, clubbed him one over the head...

A second guard entered from the hall...Walthrop pointed the first guard's pistol at him and waved him into the cell...

Miss DuBois looked at him expectantly from her cell...Well?...Come on...

Where's my wife?... he hissed to the second guard...Who shrugged...

He put the gun in the apparently deaf guard's ear...Who, now hearing considerably better, informed him that Professor Fate had been taken to the west wing of the fortress...To be prepped for her performance at the coronation...

Surrounded no doubt by troops of guards...Watched by the General...And even LeGrand now in custody according to von Hellsdorf's boasts...

Walthrop pondered...

Mr. Wal-throp?...Would you please let me out before the rest of the guards show up? Miss DuBois asked...

There were faint sounds suggesting others were approaching their cell area...

Hmmn?...Oh, yes...He started over...Whoa...Wait a bit...

Where was the Great Angel being held?...he asked the now quite reasonable and helpful guard...

Hellsdorf's older family castle...Just four miles away...Straight down the road...Can't miss it...  
Quite a museum piece, the guard noted...

Hmmn...A man with two castles?...God, no wonder he wants to rule the nation...The heating bills alone must be croaking him...

Mr. Walthrop...Miss DuBois' forthright nature was asserting itself...Would you please get a move on...

Sorry... he told her... I'm afraid I may need some help to get Millie out of here...And LeGrand will need some incentive to come back with me...

What?...You're leaving me here?...She looked at him...

You'll be perfectly fine, I'm sure...He assured her...

First, let me check on the guard situation around Millie...If I can get through, I'll be right back...If I have to get help, Mr. LeGrand and I will be back within the hour... he assured the now fuming Miss DuBois...

He smiled pleasantly at the second guard who was himself a little shocked at such ungentlemanly behavior...

Young husband in love... he shrugged, waving a hand...And clubbed the second guard unconscious...

If I don't find LeGrand, I will come back anyway in just a bit... he promised...As he slipped out of the cell and headed into the hallway...

Walthrop!...Max!...You little rat!... Miss DuBois hollered at him as he left...

In the west wing of the same castle, the General looked Buffy-Millie over...

Now decked out in the Princess' gown of the evening...

Hmmn...Not bad at all...

She glared at him...But had to admit...She did look...Pretty nice...

But...Time to get the Princess...Out for a late night stroll...Home to the throne...

In a corner off the long hallway Walthrop managed to find what seemed to be a monk's robe with hood and slipped it on...

From his shadowy corner, a quick survey of the corridor connecting to the west wing of the castle convinced him he'd never make it...At least six guards that he could see stationed at intervals with what appeared to be even more collected in a section further down on the way which opened to form a balcony looking out over a vast hall ...

Even with LeGrand it would be tough odds...Unless...

They could acquire some hefty firepower...

A sound of sandals on stone alerted him to someone coming...A group of monks dressed in the same robe and hood as his...

He straightened up and tried to look properly monkish...They nodded respectfully...And silently...As they walked past him...He trailed after them, just close enough to be taken as one if a guard spotted him...

When he reached the open balcony he saw on the vast ground floor of the hall below...The two racing cars...The Angel Special...And Buffy-Millie's Hannibal Super Twin 8...

Equipped with medium-sized, rapid-fire cannon...

Firepower...

His brethren monks were heading for a stairway...He followed...It led down and out of the castle, but he had no choice...Besides...Now that he knew where the extra firepower lay...He was ready to fetch some extra help...

Unfortunately he did not realize the General was likewise leaving...With Buffy-Millie...For the Royal Palace...

For a necessarily rushed lesson in royal decorum and court ceremonial...

***  
Count von Hellsdorf pleasantly tapped at the bars of Angel's cell door...

Mr. LeGrand?...Your accomodations are comfortable, I trust?...' he grinned sardonically...

Hardly the way to treat an official guest of the Morovian people, LeGrand noted...

Some rather unfortunate charges have been made against you, my dear sir...And at such a critical time for our nation...I hope you can understand that we must be on special guard justÏnow...

He'd like to see the Princess, if possible, Angel told him...Or at the very least, the American consul...

Yes...You Americans and your attachment to such diplomatic niceties...the Count sighed...Why the Walthrops and that young black woman were exactly the same...

Miss DuBois and the Walthrops are here?... Angel cut in... Let me see them at once...

Not here per se, my dear fellow...Hellsdorf smiled...But safely in our custody...On similar charges... As for her Highness...She was of course much too occupied with state affairs to see him now...But would in any case merely confirm the order she had countersigned...  
I doubt that... Angel said drily...

The Count dropped his congenial manner...And looked at him with a cold stare... One does not question the word of an aristocrat in his own country, dear sir...

This is Morovia, Mr. LeGrand... Hellsdorf signalled to a guard who thrust a large staff in at Angel, striking him in the ribs...

Our ways... He took the staff himself and struck LeGrand, unable to dodge in the narrow cell, several more times...Staggering him... Are not...Your ways...

Angel grabbed the staff as Hellsdorf aimed a blow at his head...And pulled it back into the cell...

Hellsdorf glared angrily...The guards with him looked at LeGrand, one moving toward the cell door... Another guard entered and went over to the Count, whispering... Calming the Count turned back to Angel...A pleasant smile restored to his face...

It seems we must finish our match at a later time...I must return to the Royal Palace...

Farewell, my dear friend...A pleasant night's rest...The Count waved and left him...

***

Max found the castle as described about ten minutes after Hellsdorf had left Angel and saw theCount's carriage as it pulled out, bound for the Royal Palace... He went over a guarded side door off the main entrance...Still clad in his monk's outfit...

A guard halted him at the door, requesting to know his business there...

I have come to see the Great Angel, my son...On an urgent but personal matter...

I'm sorry father, the guard informed him...I have orders to admit no one without the Count's express permission...

Walthrop sighed... I understand...Bless you my son... he extended his hand in benediction...

The guard knelt to receive his blessing and receiving it square on the head from Walthrop's cell bar, passed out... Max entered quietly, now rather well-armed...He quickly found two more guards who succombed to the persuasive talents of his pistol and led him to Angel's cell...

***

Her Highness had wanted a bit of fresh air...The General quietly explained to the annoyed lady-in-waiting who let them back into the Royal apartments...Buffy-Millie nodded as pleasantly as possible given the circumstances without speaking to the lady who was only too glad to return to her bed... Her Highness wandering about at night had not been an unusual sight of late...

Once safely in the Princess' private apartments, the General turned to Buffy-Millie...

Well...The most difficult business is already accomplished...We should have little trouble about the rest... he told her...

She frowned...She knew from personal experience how valid a claim like that usually is...

However...He continued, looking her over carefully...It was necessary for her to acquire at least a rudimentary knowledge of the palace routine and court etiquette, not to mention some key details of the coronation ceremony...

Well...She thought, sighing inwardly...Why not?...She'd already learned to master a whole new existence and century...

***

A somewhat vexed Willow Harris confronted her husband at his rest home...

Had he deliberately been encouraging her to actions which would torpedo their newspaper?...

Why...My dear Willow?...Torpedo my own family's business?...

The clientele were not responding to her ultimatums as he'd led her to believe they would... Advertisers were pulling out daily...Readership and revenues falling steadily...

Well...He sighed...Perhaps the world just isn't yet ready...Noble as their experiment had been...

Alex...You told me they'd back down...

Be fair, he noted...I said...They'd have qualms about leaving the Sentinel...That they'd hesitate...

You knew they'd pull out...You counted on it... she was fuming...

Willow?...Why would I...

Just to show me up...Knock me out of the game...for good...Keep me at home forever...

Well...He was getting angry in his turn... There's damned little chance of that is there?...Considering how little time you've spent with me in the past two months...he noted... Leaving me locked up here...In the wilds of northern New York State...

With this collection of broken down old...

He smiled pleasantly as an elderly fellow patient was wheeled by his room door...

I thought we were a team...he went on after closing the door...

Willow choked on that...  
Team?...Team?...When did you ever let me have any real say?...Any recognition of my contribution?...

Heck you never even paid me for my accounting work for the paper...

I don't remember you ever paying me for signing the checks and paying the bills...Alex noted archly...

Quite a few of them to your friends as I recall...

Alex...I counted on you supporting me...And all the time...Behind my back...

Counted?...On me?...He now choked... You never asked me for advice...You told me what you were going to do, did it, and then wanted me to nod my head and say it was great...Well...I nodded my head...

Calm down...She was a bit nervous...He wasn't supposed to get so excited...

What did I say when you started this?...He pointed out...I said...Don't go too far, too quickly...Our clients are conservative... But noo...You wanted to charge up that hill, blind...

What did Idiot Alex know anyway?...He just inherited his newspaper, he doesn't have a clue... Thank God he's laid up and out of my hair...

So...Alright, I agreed with what you wanted...You were going to do it no matter what I said...

Alright, Alex...Enough...Willow took his hand...A leetle clammy...

You alright?...She asked...He was a leetle wheezy as well...

Of course I'm alright...Stop treating me like I'm going to keel over if I stand up too fast... he told her...

Ok...Just let me get the doctor... She hurried out of the room...Leaving an exasperated...But somewhat pleased Alex...

Grampa Harris never did me a better favor than by dying of a stroke at forty-five, he thought... Still he was feeling a leetle...

All the more reason to get things out with the Missus... He was not going to spend what time he had stuck out alone at the old folks home...

Living with Wilhelmina Rosenberg Harris was too much fun to miss out on...

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XIX

Walthrop greeted LeGrand cheerfully...After waving the two guards under his  
pistol into the cell...

"Walthrop?...What are you doing here?...Where are the others?..." Angel stared  
at the little blonde fellow...

Should really be me freeing him in any just universe, he thought...

Thank God no reporters about...

Come on, Walthrop waved...We've got to save Millie...

"Where are Miss DuBois and Hezekiah?..."

They're all back up at the street...At Hellsdorf's other castle Walthrop told  
him...

Bit nicer than this heap...he noted...But no time...

"We've got to go save Millie..."

Angel came out of the cell and slammed the door on the two guards...Who  
accepted their change of fortune with relatively good grace...And glared at  
Walthrop...

"Max?...Are you sure they're all up there?..."

They're there...Walthrop assured him...They're there...Come on, we've got to go  
save Millie...

LeGrand frowned, sighed, and followed him...

The things I do for Millicent Fate...he thought...And all over a couple of  
silly thesis paragraphs...

And a brief rendez-vous...

They halted at the great front door as they waited to slip past the sentry...

"Are you absolutely sure that Miss DuBois and Hezekiah are there, Max?..."  
Angel hissed to Walthrop...

"They're there, I tell you they're there..." he replied in a harsh  
whisper...The sentry passed...

"Come on...We've got to save Millie..."

They slipped out and started up the road...

Odd how familiar this skulking about at night seems...They both thought...

***  
Miss Macluay lent a sympathetic ear to Mrs. Harris' complaints on her return  
from her visit to her husband...

Things were quickly moving from bad to worse at the Sentinel...

Mears snickeringly reported that several more major advertisers had dropped the  
paper...

And readership was continuing to fall...

With several prominent preachers and politicians, sensing blood, now denouncing  
the paper's new policy as UnGodly Socialism, pure and simple...

Alex had taken advantage of her trust, Willow groused...

Deceived her, led her into a disaster...

Absolutely true, Miss Macluay noted...A worthless fellow, bent on her  
humiliation...

Not worthy of her by any means...

Worthless?...Willow stared at Miss Macluay...Who caught the slight change of  
tone...

Well...unworthy at any rate...Tricking her so badly...

Typical male behavior...

Indeed...Willow agreed...Though, of course...To be honest...She had been...Just  
a bit headstrong...

Perhaps overanxious to succeed quickly...

And Alex was in poor health...Lonely...It was only natural he'd want her around  
him...

Waiting on him...Hand and foot, Miss Macluay noted...

Willow grinned at that...The day I wait on Alex Harris hand and foot...

Unless of course, I should choose to...

Mrs. Harris had a commendable loyalty...Miss Macluay noted...But clearly her  
efforts in her husband's behalf were wasted...

Indeed?...Willow looked at her...Frowning a bit...

Mrs. Harris...Willow...Should expand her horizons...Miss Macluay went on...

To consider relationships beyond the traditional...The accepted...

The humdrum...

After all, however tepidly pleasant a traditional marital relationship might  
seem...It was in fact a trap, laid for women by a male-dominated Society...

Indeed?...Willow looked at her assistant...

Who was clearly quite passionate on the subject she was beginning to broach...

Mears, listening at the office door keyhole, gasped in horror...Audibly...

"Mears?..." Willow felt a deep sense of relief, gratitude, and extreme  
annoyance...

He fearfully entered...

What is it?...she glared at him...

What were you doing at the door?...

He gulped...

Well?...

He gulped again...Just standin' by...In any case she wanted somethin'...

Well...Since you're so eager...You can "stand by" in here...Willow told him...

Much to Miss Macluay's disappointment...

***  
LeGrand and Walthrop had reached the less ancient Hellsdorf castle...

But with day breaking and a phalanx of guards about the place there was nothing  
to do but take shelter in a nearby abandoned cottage and wait for night to  
allow an attempt to be made...

LeGrand was as amazed as Walthrop by the Count's ability and willingness to  
maintain two castles...

Family tradition was all very well but such a waste of one's resources...Well,  
perhaps he rents the old one out as a prison most days...

Jailer as a side occupation seems to suit his personality...

Millie's father, Constantine had noted that his son-in-law's young sister and  
brother were rather reticent on the trip from New York to France...To hopefully  
await his Millie's and her Will's safe arrival...And, God willing, victory...

At last..Both he and his wife hoped...It was time Millie moved on to other  
things besides competing with that idiot LeGrand...

Fortunately for Angel, Dr. Fate was still unaware of just how personal his  
daughter's relationship with him had once been...

Kristine...Mrs. Fate...likewise noted Amelia's and Phil's glum attitude  
throughout the Atlantic crossing but attributed it to concern for Millie and  
dear Will...

***  
No...The General sternly told the ladies-in-waiting...The Princess desired to  
see no one today...

She was preparing herself for the coronation...The rapid approach of which was  
clearly leaving her a bit...Unnerved...

It was at least partly the truth...

In the stillness of the Princess' apartments Buffy-Millie contemplated the  
speech the General had composed for her abdication...

Hmmn...A simple "Off with their heads"...sounded much better...To her way of  
thinking anyway...

If she got the chance...And if Max's and Miss DuBois' safety could be  
assured...

***  
The Count had returned to the Palace to play his supporting role as dear royal  
cousin...Helping the imitation Princess cover until the coronation...

He decided to pay his respects to his cousin before retiring...Easily  
persuading the only member of the ladies-in-waiting on duty to let him by to  
look in on the dear Highness...

And found Buffy-Millie frowning over the speech...In a nightgown she'd found in  
the apartments...

She regarded him quizzically...The younger perv of the duo...A bit more of a  
handful then the old general, this one...

Being in a merry mood, the Count felt like engaging in a little romance...

He was anxious to see if what they said about American girls was really true...

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... Great Race 1906 ...Part XX

Count von Hellsdorf had decided to pay an early call on the imitation Princess...

After all, no greater guarantee of romantic success than holding the lady in question's beloved husband in immediate danger of execution in your own private dungeon...

***  
During their enforced day's lodging at the cottage, Walthrop explained to LeGrand what little he knew of Seidelmann's and Hellsdorf's schemes...

Hmmn...So the real Princess was up there at Hellsdorf's as well, Angel thought...

A chance to save Royalty...Pity reporters weren't at hand...

***

Not too bad...Really...The quietly entering Count looked Buffy-Millie over as she sat in a chair...Wearing the Princess' nightgown...

Even with those teeth...But then he'd always thought his cousin had potential...Pity her inclinations had never run that far in his direction...

He tapped on the door to get her startled attention...

She looked up...God...I thought this place was supposed to have security, she thought...

Are you enjoying the Palace, my dear?... the Count grinned at her...

Yeah...she noted dryly...A real trip...

What about my husband?... she asked nervously...

Trip?...the Count blinked at her...Ah, American slang...Whoop-dee-do and all that...

Barbarians...

The little fellow was safe and sound in his cell, the Count assured her...

Naturally his continued good health depended on her...Cooperation...

But he was puzzled, he told her...Such an impressive lady...To be married to...Such a minor fellow...

Perhaps...The Count smiled what was clearly his trademark seducer's smile...They could...

Get to know each other better...

Jackass...thought Buffy-Millie...Knowing I'm married...Besides, aren't I supposed to be his cousin?...And engaged?...

He was...A fellow of considerable experience...He noted...Placing a hand on her shoulder...

She carefully moved off...

Pervert...she thought...Repressing her desire to demonstrate her fighting skills...

After all, one must remember the hubs...Sitting under the gun in his cell...

Aristocrats...God...Now I know why Dracula was so creepy...

Pity...I could probably deck this jerk even without Slayer strength...she thought...

While smilingly noting to him that she had a great deal to learn before the ceremony...

No difficulty there, he noted...Showing all his teeth in a wide smile...  
He was an excellent...Teacher...

Buffy-Millie repressed an urge to howl...Hell, on his worst day Spike could have done better  
than this...

Even Dracula had had more class...

Still...Will in danger...Best to let jerk-face have his leer and be done with it...

We can always kill him later...

An increasingly nervous Willow was again alone with the passionate Miss Macluay, Mears having been forced to leave to tend some minor machinery problems...

Miss Macluay's passion clearly extending beyond their joint interest in the success of the Cause...

And apparently leaving her quite agitated...

She was again denouncing Alex as unworthy of her employer...

Mrs. Harris would be fortunate if his illness carried him off...

Willow could hardly stand by while the young lady dismissed her Alex in such terms...

Much as she could understand a young woman's frustrations with the current world, Willow began...

And admired Miss Macluay's spirit and dedication...

Miss Macluay interrupted her...

Mrs. Harris...Wilhelmina...Willow...Was not getting her point, she declared...

I love you... she told her...

And you're like a daughter to me, Willow smiled a hair nervously at the agitated agitator...

Willow was definitely not getting her point, Miss Macluay told her...

Clearly they needed to spend some time alone...So that she could make her see the sincerity of  
her feelings...

Alone?...Willow blinked...Looking at the gun Miss Macluay had pulled from her purse...

Alone... said Miss Macluay, locking the front office door...

Well...Least it's not a bomb...Last thing the family business needs is a major office repair bill...

***

Buffy-Millie was attempting to deflect the romantic attentions of her cousin , Count von Hellsdorf...

Bit early in the morning for this kind of nonsense she thought wearily...

Thought his kind slept all day...Like vamps, only easier to kill...

Perhaps...Hellsdorf noted, approaching her again...There was no real need for her to abdicate tomorrow...

General Seidelmann and his troops might be one very good reason, she noted...Backing off...

It appeared a political partnership was fast dissolving...

Might be worth listening...Followed by a chat with the other partner...

Seidelmann was a mere tool...The Count smiled...No need for him once the throne was secured...

As for her little husband...The Princess could as easily be rigged to impersonate Professor Fate's corpse as she was being to play her...

A tragic accident claiming the lives of the Great Racers would be simple to arrange...

Including dear Mr. LeGrand...Who was indeed in his custody...

Hmmn...Seidelmann...An army at his beck and call, control of the police, not to mention the palace guard...Hellsdorf...Two castles and a toothy grin...

The Count could give me some credit for brains...she thought...If I were in the least interested I'd have the sense to choose the partner who had a chance...

The original agreement sounded best to her, she noted...

Indeed?...The Count looked at her coolly...He was not used to having his generous offers spurned, he told her...Approaching her with some anger...

She gave him her best Slayer glare...He blinked at her...And backed off a bit...

Still got it, she happily noted to herself...  
She rang for the maids...

My dear cousin...It was nice of you to drop by... she smiled at Hellsdorf as two young women appeared...

Of course...He does intend to try and kill us all after this is over...she thought...As he fumed silently...

But...Watching him stalk out in smoldering fury...The maids tittering a bit at what was clearly  
a rejection...

It was worth it...

Providing I can get my poor Will out of this in one piece...

Miss Macluay had taken herself...And her large pistol...To the window...

Where she stridently bellowed the joys of Unrestrained, Free Love to the crowds below...

Warren entered Willow's office by the unlocked side door...And gasped at Miss Macluay's waving pistol...

Fortunately Miss Macluay's attention was unfocused...And what little she possessed centered on getting her message out to the now gaping crowd below...

Who sadly could not hear a word...But was entranced by the spectacle of a possible young female suicide...

Mears...Willow hissed...Get the police on the phone...

He brought the phone over to her...

Under the desk, you moron...Do you want that lunatic to see?...Willow told Mears in a harsh whisper...Nudging him back and down...

Miss Macluay continued to rant...Now striding the office...

Society's evils must be purged...Through the application of the principles of Free and True Love...

She fumbled with her pistol...Which fired into the rear wall...

Pardon me...Miss Macluay apologized...To the room at large...

That was strictly an accident...

Mears shivered silently behind the desk...

Hello...Police?... Willow whispered...

There's a dangerous female lunatic loose at my office...

The New York Sentinel...

She frowned at the cop's question...

No, you moron?...What do you mean is it that crazy Mrs. Harris? ...I'm Mrs.  
Harris!...

She described Miss Macluay...

Get over here at once...Willow hissed into the phone...

***

Angel had pondered the operation during their enforced cottage stay...

The castle was a fortress, well-guarded, strongly fortified...

The objective, laudable...The freeing of a Royal Princess, two lovely damsels, and a devoted assistant...

The enemy...At least in the case of von Hellsdorf...A cur...A cad...

Not a gentleman in any sense of the word...

This...Truly...Was a job for Angel Le Grand...

Just one problem...

How to do it?...

Ummn...

Walthrop suggested they secure another monk's robe and walk in with the others at evening prayer...

The Hellsdorfs maintained a chapel in their castle where monks from the nearby monasteries made observance several times a day...  
Likely the deceased family members were in serious need of their supplications if they were anything like the current owner...

***

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	3. Chapter 3

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXI

Suggested Race Theme (Raiders of the Lost Ark)

On reflection the Count found himself a hair nervous following his little morning tete-a-tete  
with Mrs. Fate-Walthrop...

First concerning the practical...What if she spoke to Seidelmann about his little scheme?...

The General had rather antiquated notions about loyalty to one's allies...Despite his recent  
willingness to expand his horizons beyond his oath of allegiance to the State it was likely he  
would frown on Hellsdorf's fickleness...

However...It should be possible to present her tales of his treachery as an attempt to split them  
up...Divide and conquer as the General himself might say...

Equally important...Perhaps even more so to a man like Hellsdorf...The humiliation...

Rejected...By a American commoner...A mere peasant, really...And in front of the maids...

Even if they'd thought she was the Princess...He knew...

And rejected in favor of that little...pygmy...of hers...

Even more unsettling...That stare of hers...

He'd seen one like it only once before...In the eyes of a leopard while on hunt in Africa...

And she'd obviously sensed his fear...Enjoyed it...

Well...He'd deal with the Walthrops at the proper time...And enjoy her fear as she pleaded in  
vain...First for her husband's life...

Then for a quick death...

After all...That was the von Hellsdorf family way...Tradition and all that...

More bad news awaited Count von Hellsdorf in the late afternoon...

One of General Seidelmann's men reached him with the grim news that both Mr. Walthrop and  
the Great Angel had escaped their respective dungeons...

And were nowhere to be found...

The General felt a conference was called for...Immediately...

The Count sighed...Politics...

What a bore...

However...

He agreed to a brief meeting with his partner...Given that the situation was now in flux...

***

A claim of severe headache managed to keep the decks clear for Buffy-Millie to stay in the Royal  
Suite through the afternoon...She was surprised to find the staff accepted her condition without  
comment...

Actually her Royal Highness had been having a lot of æheadaches' lately...Usually cured with a  
large dose of alcohol...

That she did not request a large dose of that medication was far more of a surprise...

No word from the Angel Special in days...Not even since Angel and Hezekiah had reached the  
Morovian capital...

Hercule LeGrand, now awaiting events in his offices in Paris, pondered the situation...

His idiot son was no doubt stumbling around...Posing for cameras rather than securing what  
should have been an easy victory...

The only good news was that the Walthrops had likewise not been heard from...

Well...Perhaps it was time for Father to lend a hand...

Yet again...

***  
The agitated Miss Macluay was shocked out of her rantings on hearing the arrival of New York  
City's finest...

Betrayed...she thought in shock...Looking frantically for Willow...Who with the fear-crazed  
Mears was huddled behind her desk...

"Willow!...Can't you see we are meant to be?..." Miss Macluay fired into the ceiling...Then  
pumped three bullets into the picture of Alex on the wall...

"It's his fault...I'll find him and kill him..." she announced...

The police were smashing through the building's front door and hurtling up the stairs with their  
usual decorum...

"I am a fool for love..." Miss Macluay announced...And raced for the window, climbing out...

My God...Willow thought as she pulled the panicky Mears to his feet and looked at the window...

What a horrible thing...A tragedy...

The Cause...And dear, dear Alex...In jeopardy...

The police ran in firing...She and Mears ducked for cover...

"All right, you...Anarchist!...Bolshevik!..." the sergeant commanding the force called...

"Come out from there!..."

Shoot her the minute she pokes her goddamn head out, Georgie...the sergeant whispered to his  
squad leader...

"Sergeant O'Connery?...Is that you?..." Willow called...

She and Alex had learned the need to get close to all leading members of the NYPD...To avoid  
the occasional fine, citation, raid, false arrest...

"Mrs. Harris?...Stand down, ya damned bloody fool..." O'Connery told Georgie...

Willow cautiously emerged from behind the desk...Mears choosing the better part of valor...

"Where's our madwoman?..." the sergeant asked Willow...

Out on the ledge...she told him...

"She's insane, poor thing..." Willow noted...

"So...Take no chances, shoot to kill..." she told Sergeant O'Connery who nodded...

We'll handle things ma'am...Don't trouble yourself...he smiled...

Boys...he called to his men...

After all, Willow reflected...The Cause must be kept from embarrassing scandal...

And dear Alex's life must be protected...

"She really thought we were meant to be together..." Willow noted to Mears who was beginning  
to breathe again...As the police sharpshooters began looking for suitable positions...

Well...Not in this life...she noted to herself firmly...

A brief conference with General Seidelmann left the partners agreed on at least two points...

Their only hope was to continue with the plan as far as the coronation went...With Seidelmann  
increasing security around the Palace and the cathedral where the ceremony would be held...

And they must make use of their remaining prisoners...To prevent LeGrand and Walthrop from  
acting...

To that effect, the Count would return to the Hellsdorf castle where Miss DuBois and Hezekiah  
were being held...And bring them...As openly as possible while under tight guard...To the  
Palace...Where they could be used to greatest effect should the two escapees show their heads...

And the Count thought to himself, rather agreeably, as he headed home...A little preliminary  
torture could not but help to improve the situation...Making it clear that he and his partner were  
quite serious...

A delicate touch would be required of course...Inflicting agony without risk of death...  
Delightful...

Sure to make up for the tiresome events of the day so far...

Besides who better than a Hellsdorf?...A family where the practice of torture was an ancient and  
cherished family tradition...

Pity her Royal Highness' came from a less traditionally minded branch of the family...

***  
Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXII...

Walthrop and LeGrand had smuggled themselves, disguised as monks, into the  
newer...Relatively...Of the two Hellsdorf family castles...

Where Miss DuBois, Hezekiah, and Walthrop mistakenly believed, Buffy-Millie were being  
held...

Unfortunately...It being the evening before a major national and religious event...Namely, the  
royal coronation...There was a major chapel service in the works for the monks...From which no  
brother monk could withdraw himself without attracting very unwanted attention...

Still, at least they were inside...And undetected...

At the first opportunity during the service, Angel hissed yet again to Walthrop...

"Are you absolutely sure, Max?..."

They're here, they're all here...he assured him...

He'd been right about the cars, hadn't he?...Angel had seen them on the ground floor from the  
balcony as they passed, hadn't he?...

And he...Max...Was likewise right about this...

Besides there was only one truly important mission here...

"We've got to go save Millie..."

***  
Buffy-Millie, having been forced to assume the identity of her royal twin, was in the royal  
apartments of the Palace, rehearsing tomorrow's role under the watchful eye of General  
Seidelmann who felt it was best to stay by her as closely as possible...

While continuing to keep the escape of her husband and LeGrand a secret from her...

"...And, as the last full measure of Our devotion to Our people..." Buffy-Millie read from the  
speech given her by the general... "We renounce a crown which We feel Ourselves unfit for and  
consign..."

She paused and frowned at Seidelmann who looked expectantly at her...His white mustache  
wagging as he mouthed the words of her speech along with her...

"Who's gonna believe that I'd...She'd...Just up and renounce the throne, all of a sudden?..." she  
asked...

It's widely known Her Highness has great doubts about herself, the general noted calmly...And  
her increasingly reckless behavior has led many to my conclusion about her fitness for the  
throne...

"She might just be nervous, you know...What gives you the right to decide on her fitness?..."

A lifetime of loyalty to my nation and the monarchy, Seidelmann noted, stiffening...

"This is Morovia, Mrs. Walthrop...Our ways are not your ways..." he added...

Thank God, she thought...  
"Well, why don't you just call Parliament or Congress or whatever and have them decide?..."

This is not England or America, Mrs. Walthrop, Seidelmann explained patiently...We have no  
legislature...And there would be many, many potential and unfit candidates for the throne when  
the ruling family abdicates...

"Like the Count?..." she noted...Looking for an opening to mention Hellsdorf's little offer of the  
morning...

Nothing like driving a wedge between two partners...

The General smiled ruefully...Yes, Hellsdorf was a candidate, though rather lower on the totem  
pole, thankfully...

"He might be looking to up his status..." Buffy-Millie began...

"Indeed...His original scheme was to marry Her Royal Highness...Which is why I was so willing  
to allow him into this scheme of ours as a partner..." Seidelmann smiled...

There was always the chance she might change her mind and accept that fool...So it was best to  
keep him under thumb...

"Did he make you an offer, my dear?..." Seidelmann asked pleasantly... "I should have been  
surprised if he didn't..."

Well, so much for driving a wedge...she thought...

There's always the direct approach...

"What's really going to happen when this is all over?..." she asked him... "Are you going to let  
us...All of us, even the Princess...Just go?..."

"I've given you my word, my dear lady...Indeed it's only Hellsdorf who has something to worry  
about...He will not be joining our new government, I'm afraid..."

Hmmn...The general being a man who tends to put cruel necessity before honor on occasion..I'd  
say we're dead hands down, she thought...

But there was still the coronation...She might have a chance there...Although the guards would  
doubtless be his men, there might be just that minimum of loyalists she'd need...

Please continue...Seidelmann politely urged... Our time is limited and you'll have to get to bed  
soon...

"...And consign the burden of government to the following council, comprised of the most  
trusted and August of Our advisors..." she continued...

Hellsdorf was pleasantly musing on the joys of a lengthy session of carefully applied torture as  
his carriage entered the castle grounds...And rolled into the courtyard where the two cars of the  
Great Racers had been stored...

Where he was spotted on emerging by Walthrop watching the courtyard from the open balcony  
of the chapel where he and Angel were continuing their monkish devotions...

"Something may be up..." he hissed to LeGrand, pointing out Hellsdorf as he passed through the  
courtyard into the main castle chamber...

"We'd better be ready to move..."

Besides, Walthrop noted...There was now a prominent player available for trading purposes...If  
they could catch him, it would definitely tip the scales in their favor...

Angel nodded...At the very least he'd very much like to renew his acquaintance with the  
Count...On more equal terms...

"What about weapons?..." he hissed back...Max's cell bar was all well and good for conking the  
occasional guard or isolated monk but for taking on the large castle force...

Let me get to our car and we'll have all the firepower we need...Walthrop assured him...

"Max?..." Angel looked at him...

Walthrop sighed...

"I tell you, they're there..."

***

"He said he'd be back...Lousy little..." Miss DuBois angrily noted to Hezekiah, now sitting in the  
adjacent cell...With the still unconscious Princess occupying that to his left...

"Worthless little..." she added...Hezekiah continuing to listen patiently...As he had for the past  
several hours...There being no alternative...

Leaving me here like that...Ungentlemanly in the extreme...she again pointed out to Hezekiah...

Who couldn't help enjoying seeing the tables turned on the intrepid Miss DuBois...Who seemed  
rather bizarrely shocked at having encountered someone as ruthless as herself...Much as he had  
to admit the situation was a critical one...  
If not dead...The most likely prospect, Hezekiah noted...Walthrop had probably headed straight  
out to free his wife and they might even now be on their way to Paris, thumbing their noses at  
their trapped competitors...

After all, it was the course he'd of taken if the roles were reversed...

***

A slightly wounded Miss Maclauy was being dragged off by several of New York's finest...

"Wait for me, Willow!..." she called to Mrs Harris, turning to her as she was led past... "I'll be  
back...After I kill him!..."

"Don't fret dear..." Willow called back... "They'll take good care of you...In Ohio..."

I understand the clinic there is doing wonderful things with brain surgery these days...she noted  
to Sergeant O'Connery...

Really?...he noted...Must see about visiting that young woman out there once she's...Cured...he  
thought...Attractive little Bolshevik, that...

Nice that she'd didn't end up smeared on the sidewalk...Or riddled with bullets...

He nodded pleasantly to Mrs. Harris and headed out...

Well...Alls well that ends without too much bloodshed...Willow thought...

Alex is safe...And the Cause spared needless embarrassment...

Hmmn...Alex is right...I really must be more careful about screening new employees...

"Mears!..." she hollered...Warren jumping to his feet...From where he'd continued to crouch  
under the desk throughout the incident...

"We have a paper to get out...Remember?..."

Yes, ma'am...Warren nodded nervously...Still shaking from recent events...

Get my husband on the phone...Time our consulting editor/columnist got back to work...And  
started winning back our advertizers...she noted happily...

"And book a train reservation for me and the children for tonight, after eight...I need some  
indepth consultation with him..."

Yes, ma'am...  
By the way, she asked...Any word on the Great Racers?...

***  
Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXIII...

At the Hellsdorf castle, a brief break in the monks' devotions for a late dinner provided a chance  
for a hasty strategy conference...

Brother monks Angel and Walthrop had decided on noting Hellsdorf's arrival that it was about  
time to leave holy orders...

But they would need to divert the Count's guards while one of them freed the prisoners below...

"Can you get past the guards and make it to the dungeon entrance?..." Walthrop asked Angel...

Nodding pleasantly as another monk passed by...And resuming...

If you can look out for the others, I think I can keep the guards here occupied...Just wait until you  
hear me go...Then head out...Ok?...Max looked at LeGrand...

And...Don't forget my wife...

"I'll get there...And I won't æforget' any of them..." Angel told him...

The signal was given for the return to chapel devotions...The monks began to collect at the  
chapel door...

Just keep the guards busy...Angel concluded...

"Right..." Walthrop carefully headed for the open balcony overlooking the courtyard where the  
Great Racers' two cars sat...While Angel moved toward the chapel hallway leading out to the  
central part of the castle...And the lower levels, including the dungeon...

Suddenly with a loud cry, Walthrop leaped off the balcony, to a tall column which supported part  
of the heavy ceiling...And quickly clambered down until he was close enough to Buffy-Millie's  
Hannibal Super Twin 8 to leap onto the roof...Which he immediately did...Dodging the first wild  
shots of the startled guards and swinging down and into the car almost as quickly, before Angel  
had reached the door of the chapel...

"Here come the Marines!" Walthrop hollered as he started the Hannibal's engine and elevated  
the body to maximum height...

The guards looked at the car in astonishment...Which turned to panic almost immediately as Max  
sighted them with the main cannon...Courteously granting a cluster of several a couple of  
seconds' grace to flee before he blew up the spot where they'd been standing...  
Pity dear Mil couldn't be here...To witness her greatest creation's finest moment Walthrop  
thought as he chased a wildly scattering group of guards around the courtyard...What bullets  
some were able to fire glancing off the heavily armored sides of the Hannibal Super Twin 8...

Yeah!...He thought as he blew up a doorway through which some guard reinforcements had just  
come...A triumph of her principles of simple and sturdy yet elegant design...

She'll be so pleased...

"Fools?...What is going on here?..." Hellsdorf bellowed, having come out to the upper floor  
balcony to learn the source of the disturbance...Which placed him exactly at eye level with  
Walthrop...And the Hannibal's cannon...

Which the Count having caught sight of...And having seen the look on Walthrop's face...He  
turned and fled inside...

Just as Max fired into the balcony after him...

"Sorry you can't stay for the party...But, please...Accept our card!..." he called merrily after the  
fleeing Count...

Such a shame Mil can't be here...She'd be on the car floor, snorting with glee by now, he  
thought...

***

Sizing up the situation from the shattered hallway he'd run to, as his shaken guards fled past him,  
the Count realized his one chance was to immediately secure his remaining prisoners for use as  
hostages...

He hurried down towards the dungeon...To find Angel LeGrand waiting for him in the hallway  
outside the dungeon door...

"Greetings, Count..." Angel smiled...Displaying a foil...

"I take it I'd be right to assume you have a key that unlocks this door?..." Angel noted...

The Count urbanely returned his smile...And nodded...

The last time we met I was unable to accept your earlier invitation to a little fencing  
practice...Angel went on...

Perhaps...If you would care to indulge me now?...He tossed Hellsdorf a foil, and assumed fencing  
posture...

"By all means, Mr. LeGrand..." the Count smiled, bowing slightly...And likewise assumed  
position...

But I must warn you, he noted to Angel...I am somewhat pressed for time...So this will have to be  
quick...

"I'll do my best to accommodate you, sir..." Angel smiled coldly...

A brave remnant of guards in the courtyard attempted a charge at the chassis as Walthrop  
perched above in the elevated body of the Hannibal...Which a cannon shot at their feet quickly  
dispersed...

A clean sweep of the field...Max noted happily...

Unfortunately, the car could not pursue the enemy into the castle hallways...Although he could  
blast a few doorways wide enough to enter a short ways...

And guards were still hiding in the halls, somewhat protected now from his occasional shot...

He considered...If he stopped his diversion and tried to reach the dungeon on foot, odds were that  
the guards would rally...And there were still too many of them for him and LeGrand to deal with  
without the peacemaking ability of superior firepower...

He'd just have to hold as many as he could here and trust that LeGrand could handle the situation  
at the dungeon...

***

From their cells, Hezekiah and Miss DuBois could hear the sounds of Walthrop's cannonfire, the  
guards' panicky screams, and a closer sound of swords clashing...

"Some big doings going on, up there..." Hezekiah noted...

"Bet the Boss is in on it..."

Hmmn...Miss DuBois pondered...If order was breaking down up there, perhaps a guard or two  
would be more amenable to the persuasive powers of the American dollar...

And she had kept her checks for drawing on her Sentinel expense account...Surely the Harrises  
would agree that this was the sort of emergency situation in which Willow had told her to feel  
free to call on the full power of the New York Sentinel...

Not to mention making a great entry in her chain of stories...The Sentinel reporter saves the day...

Yeah, the Harrises would definitely approve...So long as the bribe were within reasonable  
limits...And this was, after all, Eastern Europe...Where a little cash goes a long way...

"Hey, guard!..." she hollered...

***  
"Your form is excellent, Mr. LeGrand..." the Count complimented him as their foils clashed...

"And yours, sir..." Angel graciously returned...

Hellsdorf took advantage of Angel's pause to return compliments to slash in at him, slightly  
nicking his hand...

Angel threw him back and in return, slashed his tunic...

"Excellent, Mr. LeGrand, a very nice comeback..." Hellsdorf smiled at him...

"But...Time and tide wait for no man..."

And moving in, slashed hard at him...

***  
Apart from a minor challenge by two guards attempting to drag in an old cannon from the castle  
ramparts...One which, Max noted, would probably have blown them up anyway if they could  
even have succeeded in firing it, as he drove them off and then blew up the old relic...There was  
little for him to do except keep the guards hiding in the halls...

Still...He also serves who only stands around waving his big stick...As his old friend Teddy  
would have said...

But he was anxious about Millie...And Miss DuBois...LeGrand seemed to be taking his time...

God, I hope they're not all down there quarreling all this time...he sighed...

***

"Mr. LeGrand...What the hell are you doing?..." Miss DuBois called to Angel as she and  
Hezekiah, followed by an extremely nervous guard emerged from the dungeon...

Hellsdorf raging at his faithless guard who ran off, clutching his bribe...Official note drawing on  
the famous New York Sentinel newspaper corporation...Good in any bank in America or  
Europe...

Angel looked at them in surprise...And with a certain degree of disappointment...He had planned  
such a much more dramatic rescue...

Still, no reason his adoring fans needed to know the exact details of how this little incident was  
resolved...

Hellsdorf now backed off and moved towards a door...Leading to a small antechamber with a  
large open window facing the river Morovia...He climbed the window and turned to face  
LeGrand and the others...

"Running away, Count?..." Angel called after him...

"As a famous Englishman once said, Mr. LeGrand... "He who fights and runs away...May live to  
fight another day..." And so, until that other day..." Hellsdorf threw his sword at him...

"Please excuse me, my friends..." the Count bowed... "I have a boat waiting..."

With that he turned and leaped...

Unfortunately he, not being a Professor of Physics and Mathematics like Buffy-Millie, had  
misjudged the force he would generate in leaping from such a height...And on striking the little  
boat waiting for him below, sank it on impact...

Angel, Miss DuBois, and Hezekiah looked out...Only the broken remains of a boat on the water  
visible...

However it was too dark for them to see a solitary head poke up a moment later...And quietly  
swim to shore...

"Hello...What is-hic-going on here-hic?..." her Royal Highness asked groggily, having stumbled  
her way out of the open cell and up to the dungeon door...

***  
The remaining guards continued to occupy the halls...Though a few surrendered at the sight of  
her Highness...

Angel and the others, carefully made their way to the courtyard...Capturing and disarming guards  
as they went...

It was getting on timewise...Nearly 3 am now...And the coronation was set to begin at 6,  
according to a captured guard...The General having moved up the time as much as possible...

***

In the Palace, the ladies-in-waiting, rather put out themselves by the hastily rushed schedule, had  
awakened Buffy-Millie for the long and tiresome procedure of coronation dressing...

They were not surprised to find her in a rather irritable mood...Her Royal Highness had never  
been a morning person either...

Naturally General Seidelmann and his guard arrived early...A dutiful guardian of her Royal  
person...

Max had been husbanding his remaining cannon shots...Not that there was any shortage of  
ammunition in the car's stores...Just...He'd have to get out to reload...And he doubted the guards  
would allow him a moment's grace...

But he was now quite nervous...And considering leaving the car and striking out for the dungeon  
with a few of Buffy-Millie's hand grenades and a pistol or two...When suddenly Angel, Miss  
DuBois, Hezekiah, and Buffy-Millie?...Nope, the other one, he realized...Emerged from a  
hallway, with several hands-tied guards in tow...

"Hey?..." he hollered...Hopping out of the car, clearly terrified...

We had a deal, Angel...he glared at Le Grand...

"Where is she?..." he cried...Looking desperately in the direction of the hallway...

Even Miss DuBois couldn't be angry with the poor man...He was so obviously terrified for his  
wife...

***

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXIV...

Hercule Le Grand pondered the situation in his office in Paris...

Still no word on the Great Racers, in particular his son, Angel...Nothing even from Hezekiah, his  
trusted operative...

And the Morovian border had been closed for the upcoming coronation...

Frustrating for any devoted parent...And for a man of power like Le Grand...Doubly so...

And with so much riding on the outcome...The fate of Le Grand Motors...

Well...At least he had had the chance to see to the situation on the route to Paris...

Whatever was happening right now, if Professor Fate survived her little Morovian adventure, she  
would have some surprises awaiting her on the rest of the way to the finish line...

And his "special operatives" had been prepared as well...And made fully aware of the  
consequences of failing him if he had need of them...  
Besides, if his worthless son had bumbled his way into an early grave, public sentiment was sure  
to provide Le Grand Motors with an enormous sympathy windfall...

Not the worst of all possible outcomes at that...

"So...You left Miss DuBois and Hezekiah to fend for themselves?..." Angel angrily accused  
Walthrop...

"If I hadn't...You'd all be sitting in your respective dungeons right now..." Max retorted...

We have to do something to save Millie, he insisted...

"What we have to do is put a stop to what is going on right now...As for your wife, she's  
cooperating with Seidelmann and probably happy to go along with it..." Angel told him...

Just like her to do anything to get one step ahead of me...he noted...

Walthrop glared at him...She'd do anything to get ahead of him?...

"You pompous bag of wind!..." he yelled at Le Grand... "After all you've done to her!..." he  
began...

What I've done to her?...Le Grand looked at him...

"Let me tell you something, little man!...Do you want to know why that perverse wife of yours  
has been hounding me all these years?..."

Walthrop smiled at him...Coolly...

Miss DuBois hastily tried conciliation...

"Mr. Le Grand, I'm sure the Professor is not a partner in this scheme...And Mr. Walthrop did  
bring you back as he promised..."

A great mistake on my part...Max noted...I should have left him there...

Not helping, Mr. Walthrop...Miss DuBois noted...

"Excuse me-hic-my friends...I think I really-hic-should be getting to my coronation..." her Royal  
Highness politely interrupted...

Hmmn...Right...Angel noted...

We'll deal with all this later...After we scuttle the General's plans...he told Walthrop...  
"We can't just go storming in there..." Walthrop noted, furiously... "Millie's life is in danger..."

I'm sure Mrs. Walthrop will be fine, Miss DuBois assured Max...He frowned...

"In any case, we've got to stop the coronation..." Le Grand told them...

The guards now completely fled, they headed out to the cars...Walthrop alone in the Hannibal,  
following behind the Angel Special...

Yes...Thought Walthrop...We'll settle things between us later...Watching the Angel Special  
narrowly...

The two cars emerged from the castle courtyard and proceeded down the road leading into the  
capital...

Walthrop let the Angel Special pull about 100 feet ahead of him, targeted its right rear wheel, and  
fired the Hannibal's cannon...Swerving to avoid the other car as it swung off the road...

He'd stop the coronation in his own way, thanks...Waving off to the others as he passed...

***  
The royal procession had reached the great cathedral in the heart of the capital, about two blocks  
from the Royal Palace...

A still exhausted Buffy-Millie was having difficulty managing her heavy outfit, as well as trying  
to remember her speech, her proper ceremonial responses, and waving to the hastily assembled  
cheering crowds...

Troops well placed throughout, she managed to notice...

The procession entered the cathedral where the court, more crowds of citizens, and a very ancient  
and rather doddery Archbishop and his priests awaited them...

An elderly Archbishop who was rather miffed that the ceremony had been moved so far up in  
time...And began the ceremony almost immediately...

The General took his place near her, as she knelt for the opening prayers...And she noted the  
cathedral was likewise full of troops...No doubt hand-picked by her faithful Armed Forces  
Commander...And loyal solely to him...

Still...All she'd need were a few waverers...Who would at least hesitate to shoot their own  
Queen...

She and her ladies rose to move by the throne set up by the main altar...

No one, not even General Seidelmann...Who had been carefully watching for any sign of  
Walthrop or Le Grand...Caught the slight movement in the crowd near the ladies-in-waiting or  
the brief ripple in Buffy-Millie's extremely long train...

The procession reached the throne area...Buffy-Millie turning and standing in front to face the  
Archbishop who came forward to her...

***  
The ceremony was unavoidably long and slow...Despite the General's best efforts to speed things  
up...

Buffy-Millie soon found herself starting to pass out...As were many of the spectators...And the  
ancient Archbishop...

But, finally...The elderly clergyman motioned for the crown to be brought over...Took it in his  
hands...And climbed a small step-ladder to place him above her head as she knelt...

He positioned the crown over her head...And began the longest prayer of the ceremony...

Stay awake...Buffy-Millie told herself...Soon as the crown is on your head, you're Queen and  
we'll see if the General's men will rethink their position in a changed situation...

Something pulled at her from underneath her gown...

"Buffy..." Max hissed... "Buffy..."

She looked down...The Archbishop fortunately was now barely awake, droning on by rote...

The crown just above her head still clamped firmly in his grip...

Max?...His head barely concealed by her voluminous skirts...

"The jig's up, dear...We've got to get out of here...Now..." he hissed...

She looked up and around the great chamber...The General was looking at her...

And looked down at her skirt...Oops...Definitely time for a quick exit...

She rose suddenly...The crown on her head...The Archbishop woke and blinked at her...Was it  
over?...It didn't seem quite as long as it should...

She smiled brittlely at the Archbishop and turned hastily towards the startled rows of  
spectators...And the nearest exit...

"Max..." she hissed... "Follow me...Stay down..."  
She strode stately and grandly down the main corridor...The startled ladies ran to catch her train...

The General hopped up from his seat, signaling to his men...But they couldn't risk shoving the  
royal guards and ushers aside...Yet...

"Your Royal Highness..." he called to her, chasing after her and her train... "Your Royal  
Highness..."

Should be Majesty, now should it?...Most of the spectators and attendants wondered...

The Archbishop tried to wave a blessing at the retreating Queen...

Just as she, with Max half-crawling, half-running underneath, reached the great doors, two of the  
General's men caught up to them...

"Your Highness...You must return to the ceremony..." one called to her...Grabbing at her train...

One of the ladies, shocked, slapped at him, knocking Buffy-Millie off-balance...

Max rolled out from under her skirt...

The General running up, yelled at his men...

"Seize him, shoot him..."

Buffy-Millie, with a touch of Slayer strength, picked up her husband and tossed him at the door  
before the men could grab him...

She made it through the great doors of the Cathedral just after him and the huge crowd outside  
went wild...Guns and then cannons firing, bands breaking into their tributes...

The General came up after her on the steps...

"You must come back and finish the ceremony!..." he called to her...

"Like hell!..." she called back...Removing the crown and tossing it into a garbage can...

They ran for the Hannibal...

The General brought up his men and ordered them after the Walthrops...

Others came up from the guard holding back the crowd...Blocking them off...

They turned and ran for a nearby building...Part of the Royal Palace's kitchens...

Clearly some kind of treachery afoot, the other guards noted...Several of the officers began  
consulting...

There were rumors about the General and his associates and their plans circulating around...

Perhaps...

Seeing the other officers beginning to consult, the General realized he must act quickly or lose  
the prize...He hurried away after Buffy-Millie and Walthrop, calling on those of his men nearby  
to follow...

They entered by the door the Walthrops had taken...

Angel and his companions had arrived...They ran for the Cathedral with the Princess in tow...

"Must stop the ceremony..." he gasped to the guards by the great doors... "There is an imposter  
being crowned..."

"General Seidelman is a traitor..."

They called their officers...

"Where is the other?...The other Princess?..." Hezekiah called to them...

They pointed at the doorway where the General and his men had just entered...

LeGrand and his friends ran for the door, the Princess dazedly chasing after them...

The guards looked at each other...Should we?...

And followed, leaving a couple to explain as best they could to the officers now coming up...

***  
The Walthrops ran down the hallway leading to the royal kitchen, passing through a couple of  
doors and emerging onto a long catwalk...Above the main kitchen floor where sweating cooks  
were frantically preparing the coronation dinner...

The cooks looked up to see...Her Royal Highness above them, attended only by a small blonde  
man in a monk's cowl...

They doffed their caps, several who could, kneeling...

She smiled benevolently, waving a bit...

"What'll we do?..." Buffy-Millie hissed to Max...  
Just keep waving and walking...he told her...

The General and several of his men entered the kitchen...On the ground floor...

Seeing the Walthrops above, he called to them...While motioning to his men who made for the  
stairs to the catwalk...

"Your Royal Highness, you must come and finish the ceremony!..."

The cooks looked in confusion at the General and Her Royal Highness...

"General Seidelmann is a traitor!..." Buffy-Millie called out...Looking at one large cook...

"You there, I appoint you commander of the Morovian Armed Forces...Arrest General  
Seidelmann at once..."

The large cook looked blankly for an instant...Then called on his mates to do their duty...Several  
climbed up after the soldiers who'd started up...While he and others surrounded Seidelmann...

"You...Peasant!..." the General fumed at the large cook who stiffened...

The dignity of the Morovian Armed Forces being at stake...As well as that of the Royal  
Kitchens...

"Shoot them!..." the General cried... "All of them!..."

"Lads!...Your Queen's in danger!..." Walthrop called to the cooks...Who were now grabbing any  
implements at hand...

"Damn you, you fools!" the General raged... "That is not the Queen!"

Two soldiers had reached the catwalk...Buffy-Millie kicked at one, Walthrop jumped at the  
other...The cooks climbing up grabbing those remaining on the stairs...

The soldier Buffy-Millie had kicked fell over the side of the walk and plunged into the giant  
coronation cake...Spattering cake about...

The cooks looked on in shock... And fury...Moving on the soldiers still on the ground floor...A  
general fight now broke out on the stairs and the ground floor as more of Seidelmann's men  
entered...One lifted a pistol and aimed at the large cook...Who tossed the nearest available thing  
at him...

A pie...

Pandemonium...The soldiers were too hemmed in to fire and the fighting spread across the entire  
vast kitchen...Pies, soup, salad, and various implements flying about the room...

The General tried to shout things to order...A volley of pies struck him...

Buffy-Millie and Walthrop remaining trapped on the catwalk, kicking and scratching at the  
various soldiers who managed to stumble up the stairs through the mass of fighters...

"Arghh!..." Buffy-Millie wailed as a bowlful of salad splattered her...Followed by several pies...

Duck, sweetheart...Max helpfully suggested...

"Oh, no!..." she pointed ...What?...he looked after her point...And was covered with a mass of  
gelatin...

That...she smiled sweetly at him...Kicking back yet another soldier...

One has to give the General credit, she noted to Max...His men keep trying...

Angel, Miss DuBois, Hezekiah, Her Royal Highness, and a group of loyal soldiers entered the  
ground floor...

And found themselves immediately involved in a major fracas...The cooks not quite certain who  
to fight now...

***

Angel pushed his way through the crowd of closely packed fighting men...Where the devil was  
the General?...And Millie?...And, having lost track of his comrades almost immediately...Miss  
DuBois and Hezekiah?...

An apparition appeared before him...Vaguely resembling Miss DuBois, if she were completely  
covered in flour, pies, and various other food items...

"Miss DuBois?..." he inquired politely...Pausing to punch back an angry soldier...

Follow me...he waved...Plunging into the crowd...

My God...She thought...Wiping pie off her face...

There's not a speck on him...In the middle of all this...His suit and hair are still absolutely  
perfect...

He paused to look back at her as she followed him...

"Have you seen Hezekiah?...Or the Princess?..." he asked...She shook her head...Splattering pie  
and salad about...

Still not a bit struck him...Uncanny...

"Boss!..." A sorry-looking Hezekiah emerged from the crowd...

"Where's Her Royal Highness?..." Le Grand asked him...

Hezekiah pointed back towards the doorway...Several cooks surrounded Her Royal Highness,  
now rather the worse for wear, clotheswise...But looking...Rather pleased...And excited...

I can't be that bad a future Queen, she was thinking...If all these people are willing to fight for  
me...

General Seidelmann, captured by the large cook, was dragged over to her...

"General!..." she glared at him...

Your Royal Highness...I can explain...He mumbled nervously...

"You are under arrest..." she told him...

Take him away, she nodded to the large cook who bowed and smiled...

She smiled back...Cute fellow...And very brave, obviously...Hmmn...

Maybe I don't have to marry that moronic Rupert at that...she thought...

***

Walthrop noted to Buffy-Millie that things below seemed to be gradually moving in their favor...

And the fighting at the far end of the walkway was subsiding a bit...

Perhaps, all things considered, it was time to consider...

"Leaving?...A grand idea..." she agreed...

Best not to have to waste time clearing our names of involvement in Seidelmann's little scheme...

Do I look as bad as you do?...she grinned as they made their way along...

Worse...he noted...

Nice to have you back in any condition...I was getting a little worried...he added...  
She smiled as demurely as she could under the circumstances...

Dodging several fighters as they finally reached the exit...

Miss DuBois, Angel, and Hezekiah now struggled back through the crowd towards Her Royal  
Highness...

Hearing even more commotion from above, Hezekiah looked up at the catwalk and saw the  
Walthrops exiting...

"Boss!..." he grabbed at Angel, pointing...

"Leave them for now...We have to see to the Princess..." Angel noted...

A soldier swung at them, hitting Hezekiah and flattening him...A second, next to him, managed  
to finally pull a gun and aimed at Le Grand now only a foot away...

"Angel!" Miss DuBois screamed, grabbing the next thing at hand...Another pie, naturally, and  
tossing it at the gunman...Who ducked, and was in turn hit by a cook...

Unfortunately Miss DuBois' pie did make contact...With Angel...He staggered...

Suddenly several pies struck him all at once...

Oh...Miss DuBois held a hand to her mouth...

"Mr. Le Grand...I'm so sorry..."

Angel spit a little pie out of his mouth...And looked at his splattered coat for an instant...

Quite all right, Miss DuBois...Unavoidable under the circumstances...he smiled...

Well...She noted to herself...At least the teeth are still as white and sparkling as ever...

***  
"Lets get out of here, Max..." Buffy-Millie told him as they paused in the hallway outside the  
kitchen catwalk...

Hearing guards moving about, they ducked into a side corridor and made their way along until  
they reached a large and fairly empty hall...The palace's small chapel...

But not totally empty...

Hellsdorf, a bit the worse for wear from his dunking, smiled at them as he emerged from a corner  
with several guards...Pistol in one hand...Sword in the other...  
Must keep a set in every castle...Walthrop noted...

"Well...well...Professor Fate...Mr. Walthrop...Not departed yet, I see..." Hellsdorf

"A pity..."

"For whom?..." Buffy-Millie looked at him...

Hellsdorf smiled again...Just the lips...

"Hardly worth my effort...However...Dealing with you two will give me a momentary  
satisfaction..."

He waved the guards back...And tossed his pistol to one standing by the wall...

And moved in on them...Waving his sword gently at them...

Keep away from him, Max...Buffy-Millie hissed to Walthrop...Very sharp and pointy sword  
there...

Hellsdorf leered at her...

"You and this fool of yours have interfered with my plans for the last time..."

"You know...You really should be heading for the border, Count...I don't believe you're too  
popular with the government just right now..." Walthrop told him...

All in good time, Hellsdorf assured him...

After he had dealt with them...

He ordered a guard to toss Walthrop a sword...

"Pick it up, sir...Unless you prefer to fight without one..."

"That is not very gentlemanly, Count..." Buffy-Millie looked at him... "My husband has never  
fought with a sword..."

Then this will not take long, Mrs. Walthrop...the Count grinned...

No door out available behind them...The Count blocking the nearest one in front...

Hmmn...No guns...No other sharp objects...No weapons concealed on her person...

"Max?...What do you want to do?..." Buffy-Millie looked at him...  
Now she wants my opinion...he thought...

"I think we'd best be backing up dear..." he told her...Holding the sword stiffly in front of him...

"First...I shall nick your ears...Like a squealing pig..." the Count told Walthrop...Slashing at the  
tapestry beside him...Cutting it in two...

Very sharp and pointy sword...Buffy-Millie noted...

"Next...I shall prick the flesh above your heart to mark the spot for my final blow...Later..." he  
slashed off the head of a wooden figurine on the table beside them...They continued backing  
down the length of the room...

...Then the eyes..."

"The legs...Slicing your hamstrings and leaving you blind and lame...Fit only for the slaughter..."  
he sneered...

Quite a road map, Walthrop thought...Buffy-Millie pulled him back...He stumbled, bringing a  
laugh from Count von Hellsdorf...Who raised his sword a bit and pointed it now at Buffy-  
Millie...

They'd run out of room...

He came a bit forward, closing in on them...Cornered now...He lowered his sword...A pleasant  
smile...Leering at them and leaning toward Walthrop...

"Then I shall leave your blinded, lame carcass...And begin carving your wife's chicken legs..."

Buffy-Millie glared...Walthrop glared...

An aristocrat ought to know a little manners...And hitting her in her most vulnerable spot...The  
looks...

"Hey!..." They stepped forward together angrily...Walthrop still holding his sword out...

Stabbing the somewhat over-confident and definitely too close Count...Who went down,  
gasping...

They looked at each other...And stepped over the corpse...Hand in hand...

Nobody talks that way about a Walthrop's legs...

"There's nothing wrong with my legs...Is there, Max?..." she asked him as they headed out to the  
car...The palace guard still being too occupied to interfere with them...  
Absolutely not...he insisted...The fellow was just a boor...

You can't let people like that get to you...he noted...

The Count's few remaining guards were likewise too preoccupied with the now attacking Royal  
Guard to interfere...Or in some cases just too startled at the sight of Hellsdorf down...

Hearing cannon-fire at the front of the castle...Buffy-Millie suggested a quick departure...

Letting him drive...While peering at her legs...

They weren't that bad...she thought...A leetle on the skinny side...

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXV...

The Walthrops were not sorry to see the last of Morovia...Pausing just past the border at a small  
village to spend the night and make minor repairs to both car and person...

Given their mutual dousing in pie, cake, and other foods during the fight in the royal kitchens of  
the Palace, a bath was a vital necessity...

And one which, partially given the fact that their small Romanian inn had only one tub, and  
partially given Buffy-Millie's inclination, they shared...Despite a certain crowding...

She was quite content for once, savoring their joint survival...And the fact that they were now in  
the lead and as the crow flies only about 800 miles from Paris...Though the route as mapped was  
rather longer, in order to take the Great Racers throughout several major European cities,  
including Rome...

Hercule Le Grand, Angel's father and chief sponsor of the race, had insisted on a route through  
Europe which would maximize publicity for the race and LeGrand Motors...While also providing  
plenty of opportunity for his agents to act if their efforts should be required to stop the  
Walthrops...

Only one problem...Though he had been deeply relieved to recover his wife without damage from  
General Seidelmann and Count von Hellsdorf, Walthrop was still...Rather quiet...

However, despite her natural tendency towards defensiveness in matters of the heart, and her  
general impatience with his attitude, she had decided he'd earned the right to have her make the  
first move...

And after all, she suspected the root cause...Angel Le Grand...And her hesitation about discussing  
the full extent of their past relationship...

After dinner she suggested a stroll through the little town...And began the conversation as  
forthrightly as she dared...

After noting the lovely sunset and beautiful lengthening shadows on the nearby Carpathian  
mountains...

The quaintness of the little village...

And the cleanliness of the empty streets...Even with the dirt roads and all...

"Will?...Are you angry with me about something?..." she finally asked him...

Not...Angry...he told her...

Great...Nothing I like better than the taciturn type...she noted...

"Don't be this way, Will...If you have something to ask me about, ask me..."

I...Ummn...Have nothing to hide...she went on...

"I mean if this is about Angel..."

Arghh!...he groaned...Stalking ahead...He turned and stopped...

"Does everything between us have to revolve around Angel Le Grand?..." he asked...

Oh...Ummn...Well?...She looked at his annoyed face...

This is about something else?...she asked, puzzled...

"I miss my children...And my home..." he noted...

I've allowed myself to be dragged around the world on this ridiculous race, at a ridiculous  
expense...And for what?...

"To be with me..." she looked at him firmly...Catching him by surprise...

Yeah...he nodded...Looking away...

I know the whole thing seems ridiculous at times, Will...she told him quietly...And that I have  
been incredibly selfish in going ahead with this...

"But I have to prove I can do this..."

"Were you and Le Grand lovers?...Back at Princeton?..." his turn to catch her...  
Ummn...Forthrightness failed her...As it usually did on this subject, despite her earlier  
determination to hold nothing back...

And after all, she'd hardly call one night...Lovers...

Hmmn...How best to put this...

"I thought this wasn't about Angel..." she dodged...

He glared at her...

"So...You were...Well, old news really I suppose..." he muttered bitterly...

But you might be honest with me about it...He looked fiercely at the wall of a building by their  
side...

"It was only one time..." she blurted out, desperately...Sobbing...

The night I...Buffy merged with me...Millie...

***  
So...Noted Miss DuBois as the Angel Special wended its way carefully up the narrow mountain  
road...

This is Transylvania...

Funny, she thought...Somehow I have the oddest feeling...That I should be taking a position to  
defend myself or something...

Must be from that Dracula novel I read a couple of years ago...

Odd...LeGrand noted...Place has a familiar feel to it, somehow...

I hate Eastern Europe, Hezekiah thought, watching the long shadows forming as the sun sank  
over the mountains to the west...Just plain hate it...

She felt much better having finally told him about it, Buffy-Millie noted to Walthrop as they  
walked along...

Weight off my chest...

"You know how it is, Max...This things build up and you..."

He remained silent...And frowning...What?...she wondered...  
Max?...I told you everything...she pointed out...

And it was before we met...Fell in love, married...

"Be fair, William..." she went on...

Do you still think of him?...He looked at him...

She choked, laughing a little...Think?...Of Angel Le Grand?...

"The word æthink' and Angel LeGrand don't even belong in the same..."

No...He cut in, sharply...I mean the other one...The Angel from Buffy's world...

The vampire you said you had to kill when he turned evil, I believe...

Angel?...That Angel?...she looked at him...

He looked away...

"I've never worried all that much about that moron Le Grand, Millie..." he told her...

I can handle him...

"But this other one...The more I've thought of it...The more I can't help thinking...He's the real  
one you must've cared for...LeGrand just fit the picture..."

And what happens...When we die?...Will you leave me and go off to join him?...

She stared at him...Will?...

Talk about planning for the future...

"Will...I have no idea what Buffy is going to do...In her existence..."

And I assume her soul will have its own path to take even in the afterlife...

But as for me, it's William Walthrop so long as my soul exists...

"And if you merge back into Buffy...When all's said and done?..." he looked at her...

Max?...I can't give you a guarantee what's gonna happen in the next ten minutes...How can you  
possibly expect me to guarantee the afterlife?...she looked at him...

He turned and stared at her...  
"I know I will always be in love with you, Millie...Here and beyond..."

Wow...she blinked at him...Nine years of marriage and he still gets me with things like that, she  
thought happily...However...

Her reference to the next ten minutes had been quite appropriate...

"Professor Fate?..." A tall, gaunt, iron grey-haired old man emerged from a corner...

Rather piercing eyes, she noted...

"Or, should I call you...Buffy Summers?..." he smiled at her...

Holy...Nope, definitely not good ole Ben in another body...

Somehow I recognize him though...she noted...

Walthrop looked at him and her...Another old acquaintance from her other existence?...

Suggested theme...Dracula's Tale(O Fortuna)...

"I am Volgrode Dracula...Count Volgrode Dracula..."

"The Count Dracula?..." Walthrop stared at him...Buffy-Millie had told him of Buffy's encounter  
with a rather oily young Dracula in her world after they'd read the Stoker book one night...

I think my wife has had the pleasure...he looked at Buffy-Millie...Who shook her head...

Not me, dear...And even Buffy hasn't met this one...she thought...

"Buffy...who?..." she asked the Count brightly...

Funny...she noted to herself...He does seem familiar...

Oh, my God...she thought, suddenly...That's right...We're in western Romania...Transylvania...

And I'm not the Slayer...

Wait...Ben...Benedictus told me there were no vampires in this world...

Have no fear of me, my dear...the old man smiled, noting the look on her face...I am not the  
vampire of Mr. Stoker's colorful book...

"I am, however, an Immortal..."

A rather colorful group of horsemen...Gypsies...Angel noted to Miss DuBois...Had ridden up to  
and surrounded the car...

Hezekiah considered the situation and looked over at the Boss...Gun in my door side pouch, knife  
in my holster...he noted quietly...

Angel waved him to wait...No need to risk an unnecessary confrontation...

The leader seemed friendly enough...And spoke excellent English...

Quite a charmer, Miss DuBois noted...Tall, long-haired, handsome with a smile that almost  
equaled LeGrand's in sparkle...

Have I the pleasure of addressing one of the Great Racers?...the Gypsy Leader asked Angel  
pleasantly...

Angel nodded...Angel LeGrand, he introduced himself...And my friends...He introduced Miss  
DuBois and Hezekiah...

He seemed...A hair disappointed...But continued without stop...

"My master owns the castle in the valley and would be honored to offer you its shelter for the  
evening...This area is plagued with all kinds of bandits...And other dangers...By night..."

And he is?...Angel asked pleasantly...

The Gypsy grinned... "I hesitate to say it, my friend, for fear you will laugh...But he is...Count  
Vladimir Dracula..."

Not, I should hasten to add...The vampire of that imaginative Irishman's book...he grinned at  
Miss DuBois' startled look...

Although he was privileged to play host to Mr. Stoker during the gentleman's travels in our  
country...And has throughly enjoyed the rather amusing publicity which a few old tales he agreed  
to Mr. Stoker's incorporating into his novel has generated... he explained...

"Rather a boon to us all, in terms of tourism..." the Gypsy concluded...

Indeed...Angel agreed...After all, there is no such thing as bad publicity...

"We'd be delighted to accept the Count's gracious invitation..." he told the Gypsy...

Then, sir...Let me welcome you properly...the Gypsy smiled...

"I am Count Vladimir Dracula..."

Please forgive the costume...I rather enjoy traveling about with my friends here...It allows me to  
avoid some of the trappings of aristocracy ...he noted...

And my family has been a protector of the Roma people for centuries...

He rode over to Miss DuBois and gallantly kissed her hand...

"Madame...My home and all in it at are your disposal..."

He's good...The Boss is likely to have competition for once...Hezekiah noted...Eyeing LeGrand...

I could still shoot him if you'd like, Boss...

"This way, my dear friends..." the Count rode to the front of the car and began riding slowly  
down the road...

His men formed an honor guard about the car and they followed the Count...

Great...Hezekiah thought...Another aristocrat...

A night with Count Dracula...Miss DuBois grinned to herself...What a entry this is going to make  
in my stories...

Hmmn...Angel noted...Have the oddest feeling about this place...As if I should know it  
somehow...

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXVI...

Buffy-Millie looked at the elderly Dracula...

"Then the one I...er Buffy met was..."

"My great-grandson, Vladimir...Or rather, his counterpart in that universe..." old Dracula  
sighed...

But...Walthrop, inexperienced as he was with vampires and Immortals in general, was doubly  
cautious...

"How it is that you are Immortal, yet not a vampire, sir?..."

Like to know the answer to that one myself, Buffy-Millie thought...

And how he knows me..er Buffy...And his counterpart...er great-grandson's counterpart...

The gaunt man smiled...

"There is no Hellgate in this world, my son...And in those happy worlds where there is no  
Hellgate, humans are left unplagued by the demon races...Although..."

Humanity is quite capable of generating sufficient evil to destroy itself on its own...

And Immortality, even without the horrors of the vampire demon, can be a dreadful curse...To  
those who cut themselves off from their fellow creatures...

Landau...The name hit her...Now I know why he looks so familiar...Buffy-Millie realized...

He looks just like that actor, Martin Landau, in Buffy's universe...

***

The mountain seat of the Dracula family was anything but the gothic ruin of Stoker's tale...

A spacious, comfortable estate...With battlements and courtyard in the older section it was true...

But all the latest conveniences...Even a dynamo supplying electric power for lights and  
machinery...

And a distinguished, quite human, set of family members to add their warm hospitality to the  
young Count's...

His mother, the Countess Varina...Sister, the fair Elisabeth...And his dear cousins, Margarete and  
Dulcinia...All eager to welcome the famed American adventurers...

"Vladmir had sworn to find you for us..." Dulcinia told Angel shyly...Clearly smitten...

We've been following your race in the newspapers as best we could...

"Wonderful stories..." Elisabeth noted to Miss DuBois...

She herself hoped to take up journalism one day...What with all the new opportunities opening  
for women...

She'd been considering enrolling in the new University at Bucharest...

A career plan dear Vladmir enthusiastically supported, she proudly noted...

He bowed and smiled...A bold and brave new world...

Especially now that our homeland is again free, he noted...  
The Countess shook her head, smiling...New ideas, new inventions, new spirit...The new century  
makes one dizzy...

"Oh..." Margarete looked at them... "What about your competitor. Professor Fate?"...

Fascinating woman...Dulcinia noted...

Still in the running...Angel noted a tad grimly...

"A great pity we couldn't have had both teams to stay with us..." the Count sighed...

But...Perhaps we'll see the dear lady later...

The young Count had already showed rather a strong interest in Millie Fate-Walthrop, of all  
people...Angel noted...Asking a number of questions about her of him as they proceded to the  
castle...

And it was clear to Angel, had truly hoped to encounter her on the road...Rather than his Angel  
Special...

Yet he seemed quite pleased to have Miss DuBois as his guest...Especially after returning from  
the stables where he and his Gypsy comrades had secured the horses...

Almost as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders...

Old Volgrode explained the situation which had led him to unmask his true identity...

He was the famed Impaler...Who had struggled to hold back the Turkish armies after the fall of  
Constantinople, the great Byzantine capital...

Victorious on the battlefield, at least for a time...He'd been defeated by the suicide of his beloved  
wife...Elisabeth...After Turkish foes had convinced her he had been defeated and killed...

Hmmn...So Mr. Coppola got that part of the story right in his movie...Buffy noted...

Medieval warfare was always a cruel and brutal business, Old Dracula sighed...But after his  
wife's...murder...he'd given new meaning to the words... "No mercy"...

And when she was denied a burial in sanctified grounds as a suicide...He'd turned against the  
church, handing many of its surviving leaders over to the Turks...Losing the support of many of  
his devoted followers...

In rage, he'd offered himself to the dark powers, demanding victory, long-life, and a chance to  
rejoin his beloved...In exchange for his very soul...  
And been cursed for it by the churchmen he'd betrayed to the Turks...

With the result that his bargain had resulted in short-lived victories and a curse of  
Immortality...He was condemned to watch his country and people fall into the hands of the  
infidel...And be instinctively shunned by all men...

But at least, not a deranged mighty killer...Buffy-Millie noted to herself...

Wow...My new universe looks better all the time, she thought...Glancing at her dear Will...

As for his beloved, old Dracula continued...He'd finally encountered her reincarnated form...A  
very nice girl...A young Englishwoman...Clairvoyant...

"I believe you knew her ill-fated counterpart, my dear..." he looked at Buffy-Millie...

Her agony reached across the dimensions to me...Until at last your dear friends gave her peace...

Dru?...Buffy-Millie thought...The original Dracula's reincarnated wife?...

Well, alternate universe...

"So...what happened?..." Max asked politely...Interesting, if crazy story...

Well...He'd sensed her reincarnation, journeyed to England in hopes of reawakening his  
beloved...

Only to realize that to win her back would require her own pledge to the dark forces...Which he  
refused to ask of her...

The act which had won him a measure of redemption...And given him hope that he might one  
day achieve peace and reunion with her soul...

Unfortunately...It had also resulted in a measure of renewed contact with the family...Who no  
longer instinctively drove him away...

He'd been unable to resist it...A chance to pose as a old family member, returned from long exile  
abroad...

And in time to see the power of the Turks gradually crumble away...Until his lands were free  
again...

Then, that Irishman, Stoker, had come...And well...

He couldn't resist re-telling the tales of the past...With a little of what he'd sensed over the  
years..As an Immortal...Of his counterpart's existence...As a vampire...  
Just adding a little color to the story...

But he'd not realized that his young descendant, like his great-grandson a Vladimir, had been taking the stories of the Immortal  
Prince Dracula to heart for years...

What with the liberation of the homeland and all, it was naturally a most romantic time...

And the boy was even more fascinated by his elderly relative's new tales of the vampire  
Dracula's powers...

Seeking more information on his own, he'd uncovered enough to suggest that the legends and  
tales of his elderly "granduncle" might be true...

"My current descendant is obsessed with the family legends..." Old Dracula noted sadly...

And, God forgive me...In my loneliness I encouraged his interest...

Now he seeks to acquire even more than Immortality...

The powers of a vampire demon...Those of the Dracula surviving in your dimension, my dear...he  
noted to Buffy-Millie...

"Not likely, sir..." she replied, a little grim...

My counterpart staked him months ago...

"But the power and the demon who created him...Still live on..." Old Dracula noted...

In the Hell linked to your Buffy's world through the Hellmouth gate...

But, how could he?...Unless...she looked at the old man...Who nodded...

What?...Max looked at them...

"He's going to try and create a Hellgate...Here..." she said in shock...

Great...In my new and demon-free world...It took me long enough to get used to there being no  
demons and my not having Slayer power, she thought...

And where...I have children?...

"That doesn't sound good..." Max noted...

"No way...No God-damned, f-ing way!..." she shouted...  
Ummn, sorry sir...

The Count nodded...No offense taken...

He'd been expecting Professor Fate to be full of surprises...

"Can he really do this?..." Max asked...

If he acquires the right materials...Old Dracula noted, looking at Buffy-Millie...

Hmmn...What would it take to create and open a Hellgate?...she wondered...

Well...If there was a Dawn in this existence...I'd say...

Oops...Dawn...

Made from...

Me...

"By any chance, does he need me to make his gate?..." she asked...

It was good to know Professor Fate/Buffy Summers lived up to her/their reputations, Old Dracula  
noted...

It was not that the boy was evil by nature...the Count wished them to understand...After all, the  
procedure did not require the death of the subject...Merely a small amount of Slayer blood would  
suffice...

But the boy's desire to protect their long-oppressed land and keep its new-won independence was  
so great that his judgment had been clouded...He'd blinded himself to the danger of allowing  
such evil a door into the world...

"Not unlike his ancestor..." Old Dracula sighed mournfully...

Well...Walthrop smiled at his wife...Looking at the Count...

We're nearly out of Romania now...We'll simply keep an eye open for your descendant and his  
"friends"...Shouldn't be that difficult with a hundred miles' distance already between us...

"Unfortunately, young man, the problem is more complex than that..."

There is another potential Slayer in this universe alive at present...And she is also at hand,  
possibly even closer to his grasp...  
"Faith's alive in this dimension?..." Buffy-Millie wondered, half to herself...

Well, she might even be nice here...

No, my dear...The one you refer to was stillborn in this dimension...It is another...

***

"Well..." Max sighed... "If we don't even know who the lady is...How can we prevent your  
descendant from using her blood?..."

But you do know her, my young friend...Old Dracula looked at him...

She is traveling with your competitor even as we speak...

***  
This occult stuff was a bit trying, Walthrop noted...Stretch of the credulity bone and all...

Still if Millie believed it...He'd accept it...

On faith...In her...

"Miss DuBois?...Willow and Alex's reporter?...A potential Slayer?..."

Hmmn...I always did have a strange feeling around her...Buffy-Millie noted...

But ever since she kissed Will in Siberia I've put it down to jealously...

***

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXVII...

At the inn of the small Romanian town where they'd heard old Dracula's incredible tale the  
Walthrops had retired for the night...It being pointless to try to reach the Dracula estate after  
dark, old Volgrode had noted...

Besides, the Hellgate ceremony would require a full moon, not due for one more day...

"You really believe that old man?..." Max asked Buffy-Millie...As they undressed...

He knew me...As Buffy...she pointed out...Looking at her husband narrowly...

You said you believed my stories about Buffy's world...she noted...

Or were you...?

"I believed you...I believe in you..." Max told her quietly...But...

This means giving up our lead...Turning around in hopes of catching LeGrand and company...

"We could easily miss them by dozens of miles over these mountain roads..." he noted...

Then no harm done...If they've avoided a meeting with the young Count...We turn round and  
catch up...she replied...

"What about you, Mil?..." Walthrop looked at her...

"The young maniac wants you even more than Miss DuBois...If you fall into his sights..."

She looked at him...Appreciatively in part...Her sweet little Walthrop...Long time no see naked,  
there, sweetie...she thought...

Turning serious, she pointed out the danger...He couldn't begin to comprehend the disaster the  
opening of a Hellgate on this Earth would be...The suffering and misery inflicted on countless  
thousands, hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of innocents...

Not to mention a serious hindrance to her scientific career...Having to go back to Slaying and  
all...Probably full-time, too...

***  
The Count's adoring female relatives were delighted to show Miss DuBois their latest modern  
convenience...A small communication station equipped with telegraph, telephone, even the new  
wireless telegraph...Where she could quite easily file her latest stories to the Sentinel...

Even beats carrier pigeons, she happily agreed...

Young Vladimir for his part was eager to show LeGrand and his assistant around the estate...In  
part, a model farm for the rest of Romania...Equipped with the latest in modern farming  
machinery...Artificially lit, well enough even to brave a dark Transylvanian evening...

Margarete and Dulcinia eagerly tagging along, clearly under the spell of LeGrand's dazzling  
smile...As the Count's sister Elisabeth smilingly noted to Miss DuBois after they'd stayed behind  
at the communication station, the intrepid reporter having nearly two weeks worth of stories to  
file.

Hmmn...Miss DuBois frowned...Well, she'd preety much given up on him after the incident at  
the Siberian landing...

Not that she ever had had any interest in Angel LeGrand outside the race...Whatever Millicent  
Fate-Walthrop might suggest to the contrary...

Still...No reason he had to run about, strutting for these young country girls, making an utter  
jackass of himself.

***  
It was his great hope, Vladimir noted to Angel, to diffuse these modern techniques among the  
local farmers in various ways...Upgrade their production methods and eventually boost the entire  
nation's agricultural output...

Angel, as befitting an apostle of the age of Technologic Progress, heartily commended the young  
Count's efforts...While taking proper time to bestow his trademark smile upon the women and  
young children of the estate farmers who had gathered at the main barn to welcome the gallant  
American.

Hezekiah carefully watching the general situation...

After Morovia, he had no intention of taking any more chances than necessary.

Though it was bit annoying...And more important, a modest setback to Social Advancement,  
Wilhelmina "Willow" Harris had returned the reins of the New York Sentinel to Alex...On paper  
at least...

Benedictus, in his guise as Millie Fate-Walthrop's heartily recommended friend, crusty middle-  
aged Dr. Ben, had pronounced his patient reasonably fit again, although he continued to warn  
against resuming the old lifestyle. Stressing the need for less pressure and, above all, quiet...

His health still being a question mark to some extent, Willow had no intent of letting Alex  
reassume the huge workload of the past...Not to mention having throughly enjoyed the day-to-  
day management of the paper, she was loathe to give it up completely.

For his part, while he still hoped to find a buyer for the paper, Alex was happy to be at least  
officially back in the saddle...And home...

Home now being however a quieter place along the Hudson from which he commuted by rail  
several days a week, Willow daily...

And at least Willow finally had a proper title...Co-publisher and assistant managing editor...  
His little way of saying "thanks" and apologizing for not properly recognizing her many  
contributions in the past.

Though the failure of her little scheme to increase female employment was galling, at least the  
family business was slowly reviving after its near collapse.

And the intrepid Miss DuBois' stories were playing no small role in that revival.

Though they remained a secret source of guilt for Mrs. Harris...Having been afraid to let the  
public in on all the details of the background of their correspondent.

To let the public know their favorite newspaper series was the work of a Black reporter?...The  
readers had accepted her being a female, even allowed it to stimulate their romantic  
fantasies...But to learn their great Angel had been accompanied...At times, alone...By a young  
and beautiful Black woman? Who'd won their admiration for her courage and forthright manner  
which shone through her stories?

Asking a lot of the 1906 reading public...On the other hand...

Alex felt it was best to leave things be...Miss DuBois had not expected, indeed had to some  
extent recommended against, their revealing her background until the race was over and the  
series complete...Presenting the public and the journalistic profession with a fait accompli.

And another major Social Experiment just right now might deprive their star reporter of the one  
forum where she could make her bid as an equal, even a leader, in the profession...

Well, Willow noted...If her co-publisher and senior managing editor really thought Miss DuBois  
would be in agreement...

And as long as they would...Eventually...Make a proper announcement at the right time...

***  
"So..." Miss DuBois grinned at Elisabeth...About 25 or so, she judged...

What's it like?...Living in the castle Dracula...As a member of the actual family?...

Not on record...she quickly noted...Unless you don't mind...

Elisabeth grinned, rolling her eyes...Oh, God...Ever since the Irishman and his story came  
out...she noted...

People from all over...Stopping to gawk at them...Asking them if they were vampires, drank  
blood...Of course, Vladimir loves the tales of the vampire prince who saved his country...Can't  
seem to get enough of them...

"A pity our "granduncle" Volgrode is away for a visit...He's an expert on all the old legends,  
especially that rather unsavory Impaler of ours..." Elisabeth told Miss DuBois.

A distant cousin of my grandfather, actually...He could tell you stories that would make your  
readers tremble in their beds...Mr. Stoker got most of his material from him.

***  
At young Vladimir's urging, Elisabeth and Miss DuBois joined them, along with the Countess,  
at the main barn for a pageant which the estate farmers' children were staging for the famous  
guests...

Excellent material for a reporter, he'd noted...Snippets of all the traditional dances and music,  
plus patriotic oratory from a few local magistrates...A little sampling of the best...And worst, he  
added wryly...That Romania had to offer.

Castle...Dracula...Willow wickedly beamed at Alex as she read Miss DuBois' latest...Just arrived  
by telegraph from Romania...

"The Castle Dracula?...The Dracula?..." Alex looked at her...

Willow grinned and nodded.

Well, actually not the vampire of the story...But the actual estate and family...she noted.

Alex grinned back at her...When this hits the newsstands tomorrow...

"You, sir...Are a genius..." she tickled her husband...Gently...

Gotta remember the old ticker...

Of course the doctor did say sex was permissible now...Within reason...

And she had the reason.

"No word on old Millie and Will?..." he asked...

No..But she's fine, I'm sure...And was in the lead last time anyone saw her...Willow noted...

We'll hear from her soon...

Mil always seems to land on her feet.

***  
Just before dawn the next morning, old Volgrode came by to awaken the Walthrops...Finding a  
rather anxious Will already up, dressed, and pacing...

Besides, Max noted, as Volgrode brought him downstairs to breakfast...

How could anyone sleep the way Millie snores without her special nose plug?

He looked across the inn table at the elderly Dracula...Hard to believe the old fellow was  
really right in the old noggin...And yet...He believed Millie's stories of Buffy and her world...

Somehow...At times...He almost felt a part of them.

And if this fellow were telling the truth...Was an Immortal...Then fast action was imperative...

And perhaps...Just this once...He looked at the stairs to the upper inn where Millie was sleeping.

Just this once...He should go it alone...Considering the potential danger if the young maniac  
Count was really as determined to proceed with his crazy scheme as old Volgrode had  
indicated...

He explained his thinking to the old man...Who sighed and nodded...Perhaps it might be best to  
proceed without Professor Fate...Especially if young Vladimir had not secured Miss DuBois and  
would not listen to reason...

Old Volgrode could sympathize with a young and loving husband ready to do anything to protect  
his beloved wife.

***  
Hezekiah reported the grim news early that morning...To the Boss in private...

The Angel Special was out of commission...Damage to the transmission...

Something had apparently smashed into the underbody...Perhaps on these rough mountain  
roads...Possibly accidental...Hezekiah noted...But given the situation.

He'd suggest they see if anyone had seen any sign of the Walthrops in the vicinity...

Angel frowned...Millie already had a sizable lead thanks to Max's little send-off in Morovia...

"How long to fix?..."

Well...Impossible without replacement parts...However the young Count had quite a little  
machine shop here...And with his communications center to order the parts...

"If we can get the parts in quick...A day's work..."

Angel nodded and went to the dining room where Vladimir, anything but the stereotypic  
aristocrat was hard at work planning his daily schedule...

He shook his head at the news...A blow to his dear friend, naturally...And yet, for him and his  
family...A cause for celebration...An extra few days' visit with their delightful guests...

Transylvania can be dull at times...He smiled...

As for the replacement parts...They'd go immediately to the telegraph and place the proper  
orders...

And of course, the workshop was at Hezekiah's disposal.

He was sure they'd be back on schedule within the shortest possible time.

LeGrand gratefully accepted his host's offer...By the way, though?...

Any word heard from his men or the telegraph on Professor Fate's whereabouts?

"Not a word, my friend..." Vladimir told him...

Hopefully the intrepid lady has met with no accident on her journey...But my men will be  
keeping a sharp eye on all possible roads...In case she has not already pressed on...

We may yet have the pleasure of entertaining all of you...he grinned...

Part XXVIII...

Max...? Buffy-Millie looked around the room...

William?...She called down the hall...

"Did you see my husband?..." she asked the innkeeper...Hurrying down in her robe...

"The gentleman has left, my lady..." the innkeeper told her...

With the older gentleman...Very early this morning...Left you this note...

A brief jot from Will explaining that he and old Volgrode had decided it might be best if they...

"#$%!...#$%&ing idiot!"

Damn him!...she stamped the floor in rage...

The innkeeper stared...He knew enough English to know the oaths the lady had uttered where not  
those of your typical 1906 English-speaking gentlewoman tourist...

She raced to the inn door...Car gone... "DAMN HIM!"...she bellowed...

We were a team...Is this teamwork?...  
Victorian...Well, Edwardian, I guess now...Chivalry rears its ugly head...

Thought I'd gotten all that crap out of his system...Well...

The one area where I wish he were more like Angelis...

A little neck-saving cowardice on his part would suit me just fine...

Besides...Here I am...All alone on the Transylvanian border...

God knows what could happen to me...While he's off to visit the Estate Dracula...

A rather nice country estate if old Drac was telling the truth and not off his rocker...

Oh, Will...Damn it I love you for wanting to keep me safe, but damn you...You need me...

Oh God if I lose you now...Stuck here in this miserable, crappy, backward alternate universe...

Not that I don't love Mom, Papa, and the kids...

All right, girl...Focus on the practical...

Come on, "Professor" Fate-Walthrop...retired Vampire-Slayer...Think of something...

She sighed...And turned back to where the innkeeper and several other guests were watching her  
carefully...

These English and American women...All crazy...One told his companions...

"Do any of you have a car?..." she asked, looking at them...

They stared at her...

Hmmn...What's the Romanian word for car?...she thought...And turned to the innkeeper...Who  
warned her that no cars were in use about the area

However...

Meet them...Early?...Kristine Fate, mother of Professor Millicent Fate-Walthrop, looked at her  
two young charges...Amelia and Philip Walthrop, young sister and brother of Millie's dear  
William Maximilian Walthrop...

"We thought we could go to Vienna...See the city and meet them when they come in..." Amelia  
noted...

It's just a train ride from here in Paris, Phil noted...

Kristine looked at her husband, Professor Constantine Fate, who frowned a bit...

"We have enough money saved..." Amelia looked at them...

And Phil will be my escort...

"We just want to see that they're ok after the trip..." Phil put in...

And I was thinking of studying art in Vienna later on...Amelia added...

Well...the Professor looked at his wife...Who was uncertain...

This was a little sudden...she thought...

"Of course...This is a rare opportunity for them..." Constantine noted to her...

And I tramped all over Europe as a college student...The poor man's Grand Tour...

"We'd only be a few days away by train..." Amelia noted...

"But..." Kristine hesitated... "What would you do once they came in?...You couldn't ride back  
with them, it might slow them down..."

Well...If they can't take us...We telegraph you how they're doing, tour Vienna for a couple of  
days, and head back in time to see them cross the finish line...Amelia concluded...

After all, they'll never tell you when they write or telegraph if anything's wrong...she pointed  
out...

"So.." Constantine grinned, a twinkle in his eye...

"You two intend to act as our spies on our intrepid pair..."

Ummn...Well...

"Kris...Let them go...They'll never have a chance like this again for years..." he smiled at his  
wife...

Well...What about the arrangements?...she began...

"Hotel, train, and traveling papers..." Amelia presented a sheath of letters and papers...

Very respectable hotel...Phil chimed in...  
"Ja..." Amelia agreed, demonstrating her command of German...

***  
On coming down to breakfast the Countess Dracula and her daughter and nieces were delighted  
to hear that the Great Angel and companions would be with them for a few days longer...

Through as Elisabeth especially was quick to note, it was dreadful that their progress should be  
held up with the race reaching its climax...

Not at all, Angel gallantly assured her...It only amounted to a slight hindrance...More than made  
up for by the charm of their dear host and hostesses...

Hezekiah caught the slight frown on Miss DuBois' face as Angel paid court to the beautiful Miss  
Elisabeth...

Oh, brother...

And speaking of brothers...He'd caught a slight gleam in the young Count's eye as he watched  
Miss DuBois watching Angel and Elisabeth...

He sighed inwardly...

God, no wonder he preferred machines to people...None of this nonsense with machines...

A messenger brought the latest telegraphic messages in from the Angel Special to Hercule  
LeGrand's desk at his Paris office...

At last...

A friendly greeting from his soft-headed son...Informing him cheerily that they had reached  
Romania...But would be held up by repairs in Transylvania...At the Estate Dracula, of all places...

Hmmn...Dracula?...Dracula?...Hercule thought...Where have I heard...?

He was, as were his companions, in excellent spirits and health, and hoping his dear father was  
the same...He was...

Angel LeG...Hercule crumpled the message and tossed it into the wastebasket...

Fool boy...Delayed again...Probably more by a pair of pretty eyes and a small horde of reporters  
than by repairs...

Still...Perhaps his agents in Bucharest could have been of help...If the damned posturing fool had  
bothered to send him his precise location...  
In any case he'd have them check on the Walthrops' location...Perhaps if they were still in the  
wilder reaches of the country...An "accident" could be arranged...

He scanned the other message...Ah, Hezekiah's report...

Hmmn...At least a little more information...The car had been damaged, apparently by accident,  
although Hezekiah had doubts...

Repair parts on the way and he had sufficient facilities but no word on Professor Fate-Walthrop  
and co...

Damaged, eh?...Well, one must hand it to the dear Professor...A lady whose determination and  
ruthless pursuit of a goal came somewhat near his own...

No doubt someone had switched infants at birth...

A handwritten note came in from one of his "operatives" watching the Fate family in Paris...With  
special attention paid to his "special" if reluctant, assistants, dear Amelia and Philip Walthrop...

They were making preparations to leave on their own for Vienna...To meet the Walthrops...

Excellent...

After all, of all his agents, their past performance in stopping Professor Fate-Walthrop had been  
outstanding...

Just so long as he could continue to trust in their fear of being exposed to their dear brother and  
sister-in-law...

But...If not...The race was reaching its climax in Central Europe...A field where his agents were  
well placed to deal with the intrepid Mr. and Mrs. Walthrop...

And if necessary their dear young relatives...

***

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXIX

A remarkable vehicle, old Volgrode noted to Walthrop as the Hannibal Super Twin8 smoothly  
negotiated the rutted Transylvanian mountain paths that passed for roads...

"It appears your dear wife is as great an inventor as her counterpart is a Slayer..."

Hmmn-hmmn...Max agreed...But he was a little curious about his companion's remarkable link  
across the dimensions...he told old Volgrode...

How clear were his impressions of the world of Buffy Summers?...And his vampiral  
counterpart?...

Of course, he'd been told a great deal by Millie...Max noted...And he'd met her dear friend, Ben,  
likewise an Immortal...With a similar multidimensional link...

Still, to have a chance to pick up additional information...he went on pleasantly...

On the one being he feared most...he did not say...

The one who might possibly yet have a unbreakable hold on his Millie's heart...

A chance Max couldn't pass up...And a major part of why he'd sought to handle this one with the  
old fellow on their own...

***

Lovely...thought Mrs. Fate-Walthrop...As she jounced along in the bone-rattling old claptrap of  
the innkeeper's carriage...

Just lovely...

Here I am...A Professor of Physics and Mathematics...One of the handful of female such...

A technical whiz...If I do say so myself...At least in early twentieth century technology...

Having an insight into the twenty-first century no less...Heck even further if Star Trek got the  
twenty-third and -fourth centuries right...

Reducing to rattling after my husband in this horse-drawn old thing...

If you can call that broken-down old mare a horse...More like a walking horse-corpse...

Well...Thank God the Millie in me knows how to run these things...Buffy never got on a horse in  
her life...

Hmmn...Wonder if I could at least improve wheel/axle efficiency on this thing?...

***  
While Angel assisted Hezekiah in what work could be done on the car until the replacement parts  
arrived, the young Count gallantly offered the intrepid Miss DuBois a personal tour of the estate  
grounds...

She'd only seen the barest minimum yesterday, he noted...And nothing of the spectacular views  
offered by the mountains surrounding them...The noble Carpathians...

Excellent views for photographic purposes he pointed out...

Naturally his dear sister Elisabeth would join them...The party shortly expanded by the earnest  
entreaty of his cousin Margarete to join them...

Dulcinia preferring to stay behind and assist the Great Angel in his work...

Well...Sounded like they'd be well chaperoned...Miss DuBois noted...Accepting the invitation  
with thanks...

Perhaps...A bit of a pity she smilingly mentioned to Angel as she took her leave...

The young Count Vladimir was such a charming fellow...Would have been rather pleasant to  
have a chance to hear his stories of his ancient and beloved country...In private...

Oh...brother...thought Hezekiah...Watching Angel's reaction...

And noting Miss DuBois' poorly concealed satisfaction...As she strolled out with Margarete to  
meet the others, twirling her parasol...

Well...At least it'll give the Boss a reason to get out of here plenty quick...

***  
Did she find it...Difficult?...Elisabeth asked Miss DuBois hesitantly...As they followed an eager  
Vladimir and Margarete up a rough mountain path...

As both a woman...And a person of the Black race...To make her way in the world?...

She knew, Elisabeth noted...That there were few women...Of any race...Who'd achieved a  
position like hers...

"It's been Hell...At times..." Miss DuBois replied, grinning...

Yet...Elisabeth went on...She'd clearly managed to retain her womanly sweetness and grace...

Really?...Miss DuBois asked...Carefully wending her way up the trail...

My mother would be very pleased to hear you say that, Countess...she smiled back at Elisabeth...

She was always afraid I'd become a bit...Hard...

Used to worry no man would want such an independent little lady like me...she noted...  
"I hardly think she has anything to worry about on that score..." Elisabeth smiled...

Certainly Mr. LeGrand is quite taken with you...

Ummn...Mr. LeGrand?...Miss DuBois hesitated...

"Our relationship is strictly professional...For the duration of the race only..." she hastily noted...

My traveling with him and Mr. Hezekiah was an unfortunate necessity...

"I shouldn't think traveling with Mr. LeGrand...Unfortunate..." Elisabeth replied...

And your stories have suggested it hasn't been...Awful...For you...she smiled...

Even if he is, perhaps...A bit...she grinned...

He is...A great deal...Miss DuBois grinned back...

"Ladies!..." Vladimir called down to them from the ledge above...Margarete likewise...

Come and see...

"But...As to your career..." Elisabeth paused...

Is it...All consuming?...

They toiled over the last bit of rough trail...To stand on the wide surface of the ledge...

The view indeed a magnificent one...

Well...Miss DuBois looked at her...

It does take up a good deal of my time...

Ah...Elisabeth nodded...

Then there is little time in your life for...Romance?...she smiled...

Hmmn...As in...?...With Angel LeGrand?...

"Well, Countess...One makes time for the essentials..." Miss DuBois noted quickly...

"I hope I do not speak too frankly, Miss DuBois?..." the Countess paused...

"I'm simply curious about the nature of your relationship with Mr. LeGrand..."  
My God, not her too...

How is it that three of the most intelligent, rational-minded women I know...Professor Fate-  
Walthrop, the young Countess here, and myself...sigh...Find themselves unable to avoid  
obsessing over this egotistical twit...

"Not at all, Countess...And yes, my journey with Angel...er, Mr. LeGrand...Has not  
been...Awful..." she added...Smiling at the Countess...

After all... One should leave one's options open...she thought...Countess Elisabeth is beautiful  
and charming...And intelligent...

And unbelievable as it may seem at times, that third characteristic actually seems to hold as  
powerful attraction for our Mr. LeGrand as the other two...

Not that I would ever suspect that there's any depth to him...Beyond the bottomless pit of his  
ego...

Perhaps, he admires it in view of making up his own deficiencies...Not all that unheard of,  
actually...

In any case...No reason to concede automatically to the first beautiful, charming, intelligent  
minor royalty we encounter...

Simply a matter of principle...

Not as if I would ever be so foolish as to consider...

"You see...My brother has asked me to speak to you..." Elisabeth smiled sheepishly...

Oh...Miss DuBois blinked...

Wasn't expecting that...

"Ah..." Vladimir came over...

Have I not kept my promise to show you the most magnificent view in all your travels?...he  
grinned at Miss DuBois...

Who smiled, nodding...

A moment, he smiled, raising a forefinger...And dashed back to Margarete...

She eyed the young Countess...Elisabeth shrugged a bit, smiling...

"Vladimir was hoping you might consider a stroll with him this evening..."

He's very kind...Miss DuBois smiled...

"He would ask himself...But it's not quite proper form in our country for a young man to ask a  
lady directly..." Elisabeth explained...

"And while he generally shuns it...He would not want to treat you with anything less than proper  
form..."

Really?...

"Ladies!..."

The young Count was calling to them from where he and Margarete had spread a lunch...

She looked over to where the young Count was waving...

Hmmn...

"You can tell your brother this lady would be delighted..." she grinned at Elisabeth...

"Well...?" Angel looked at a frowning Hezekiah...

Now getting his first clear view of the damaged parts, just removed...

"I can't see how we couldn't have felt this on the road..." Hezekiah told him, looking at the  
smashed transmission...

Even those roads...

Deliberate, then?...Angel looked at him...

I'd put money on it, Boss...his assistant noted...

And it would have had to have happened when we were away from the car...he added...

Recently...

"Ruling out Millie..." Angel noted...

"Unless the Perfesser has been following us...And got into the place here..."

Hmmn...With Millie, anything is possible...Angel thought...  
However, even she wouldn't waste that much time on a few days' sabotage...

"Whoever it was...Someone wants us marooned here..." Le Grand concluded...

Bout the size of it, Boss...Hezekiah nodded...

Walthrop and his companion reached the ancestral lands of the Dracula clan late that afternoon...

With night approaching, at old Dracula's suggestion, he and Walthrop put into a small inn about  
six miles from the Estate Dracula...

Well protected by loyal servants and even more loyal local Roma families...Devoted to the death  
to the noble family which had protected them for centuries...

Quite literally, old Volgrode noted...

"So..." Max regarded him as they sat at a secluded table in the inn...

"Tonight's the full moon..."

His ceremony takes place tonight?...

"If he has all he needs...And I believe we should assume he does..." the Immortal replied...

Well...I suppose...We could just go over on a social call...You being a member of the family and  
all...Max looked at him...

I could let LeGrand know what's up...And that's that...

Though it might be rather a job to convince him I wasn't off my nut...

"The boy is aware I am opposed to his efforts...And has ordered his men to prevent me from  
interfering...Or contacting the rest of the family..." Volgrode noted...

Even if we could penetrate the grounds and reach his dear mother and the others, he would  
simply flee with the dear lady and perform his ceremony elsewhere...In secret...

"We will have to interrupt the ceremony itself...Tonight..."

Well...Max thought...Could be worse...We do have a bullet-proof car with medium cannon...

Certainly better odds than with those stake things Millie's counterpart Buffy used in her battles  
with the vampiral Dracula...

"Now this..." Willow grinned...Looking over at Alex...On the floor beside her...

Is the way to put a newspaper..."To bed"...

She rolled over and on him...

"Transylvania...I love it!..." she cried with glee...Rolling him around with her...

A faint sound from the side door...She winked at Alex who grinned back, brushing her hair from  
her face...

"Mears!..." they cried together...

A crash from behind the door...

That'll teach him to watch us from the keyhole...she noted...As a very nervous Warren entered...

"Ah...There you are..." Alex looked up at him...

Last proofs are ready for the special edition...

The Great Racers in Transylvania...

"Home of...Dwracula..." Willow hissed wickedly...Shaking her hair over her husband...

Warren tried not to stare at his employers, wrapped around each other on the floor of their  
office...

In rather disheveled condition...

He grabbed the proofs off the floor where Alex indicated...Averting his eyes...And hurried out  
the door...

Quite a tale for the gang in the press room...

"Our Warren disapproves of hanky-panky, sir..." Willow grinned at Alex...

Fellow really needs to get out more...Alex replied...

***

Part XXX...

A shrieking voice echoed through the Carpathian foothills...

"I have climbed...Highest mountain...I have run through the fields...

Only to be with you...Only to be with you..."

Professor Buffy-Millie Fate-Walthrop in pursuit of her Max was finding herself in a surprisingly  
pleased state of mind...And indulging in a little return to the music of her past...er...Future...

Fortunately, no one in earshot but the poor old horse...

Off on a mission to save the world...And William Maximilian Walthrop...

Just like old..er well, you know...times, she couldn't help noting to herself...

No one could lay the charge of selfish self-indulgence on her for this one...In fact, she was  
risking not only her life, but all the effort she'd been making in the Race...

This was a true old-fashioned Slayer mission...Or would "futuristic" be the proper word?...

And a romantic quest...

Though he might fuss, she knew Max would be pleased...Guys love it when their girlfriends,  
wives, etc, risk life, limb, and fortune to save them...

Can't call this "taking him for granted" she noted happily...

Gotta remember I'm supposed to be furious at him...Unless he's hurt or...Oh...

She cracked the whip...The horse sighed and moved a fraction of a hair faster...

Hmmn...She frowned at the coughing, wheezing horse...And pulled over to give it a brief rest...

If ole Bossy...Or whatever you call a broken-down old horse like this...Makes it...

***

One of the Count's mechanics, a young fellow, had come forward to speak to the Great  
Angel...He'd heard from his employer that the Great Racer was anxious to press on as soon as  
possible and had a potential solution...

He could jury-rig a temporary repair...Which would enable them to reach one of two small border  
towns a hundred or so miles away...To which the new parts could be diverted...

It would at least allow them to travel somewhat further in the right direction while awaiting the  
parts...And could be ready by tomorrow...

Hmmn...Obliging...Hezekiah thought...

Has quite a knowledge of transmissions does he?...

He'd done considerable work on the family's cars the young fellow explained shyly...

And would be only too happy to have a chance to see the famed Angel Special's works...

Angel thanked the lad graciously...And was pleased to accept his offer...

"We'll do her together..." Hezekiah put in hastily...

There being only so much room to work, Angel decided to check on Miss DuBois...

Which Hezekiah reluctantly accepted, choosing the protection of the machine over the man...

At least the Boss could...To a certain limited extent...Protect himself...

Angel, directed by the Countess, with a cow's-eyed Dulcinia as his guide, caught sight of Miss  
DuBois and her party as they came down the mountain trail...Miss DuBois' parasol gaily twirling  
in the breeze as she stood next to young Dracula...

Hmmn...LeGrand frowned at he eyed them more closely through his binoculars...Always at hand,  
of course...

The Count speaking animatedly to her about something as he pointed out the view...Miss DuBois  
clearly quite pleased at his attention...

Hmmn...

"Did you catch sight of them, Mr. LeGrand?..." Dulcinia asked, eager to be of help...

Yes...He noted...

They seem...Quite well...

"It's a lovely view up there..." Dulcinia noted...

And Vladimir has an excellent eye for the most romantic views...

Indeed...Angel smiled at her...

"Well..." he flashed his best at the young girl...Quite a lovely young girl, he had noted...

"Shall we go meet them, Miss Dulcinia?..." offering an arm...

Oh...She stared at those famous white teeth...yes...Accepting the proffered arm with a poorly  
concealed enthusiasm...

***  
After a quick scouting of the estate grounds to form a plan of action for the evening, Max and old  
Dracula had settled in at their inn...Dracula filling in some of the details of the story he had told  
the Walthrops earlier...

And what he knew...Or had sensed, rather...Of his vampire counterpart's and Buffy-Millie's  
world via his multidimensional link to his Immortal counterparts...

Must be difficult having multidimensional visions popping up at the odd moment, Walthrop  
noted...I mean keeping them straight and avoiding being taken for...Well...

A crazy man?...Volgrode smiled...

Well...One gets used to it...There are a handful of other human Immortals here...Including a  
former god, a doctor...

A very kind and helpful fellow...Gave me a great deal of help in adjusting to my new state...

"Benedictus?..." Max asked...

Ah...Volgrode smiled...So you know him...

Friend of my wife's...She and her twin had a little run-in with his sister, I gather, back in her old  
world...

"I had planned to seek his aid in this...But you and Mrs Walthrop being at hand...And time so  
short..."

Hmm-hmmn...I understand completely...Walthrop nodded...

"Pity Millie hasn't had a chance to develop some of the high speed transportation devices she's  
told me about...We could have Ben here in a few hours in her world..."

Amazing...old Dracula shook his head...

"I rather look forward to seeing the future these days, you know..." he smiled...

Now that I've been able to rejoin my surviving family and all...

Provided of course we can repair the effects of my foolish self-indulgence...he shook his head  
sadly...

***

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	4. Chapter 4

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXXI...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all  
other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural  
recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an  
alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So  
Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's  
another...

-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further  
-Into the body of a young Physics studennt in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble  
dealing with Angel's counterpart...  
-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of courrse...

"Buffy" Millicent Fate-Walthrop, William Maximillan Walthrop, William Walthrop, Jr., Buffy Walthrop  
(William Sr. is of course sitting on a cushion at the Missus' request)  
Suggested Race Theme...(Raiders of the Lost Ark)  
Part XXXI...

***  
Le Grand and Dulcinia strolled to where Miss DuBois and her escort had paused, just off the  
mountain trail, awaiting the rest of their party following at some small distance behind...

"How go the repairs?..."A slightly surprised Miss DuBois greeted Angel...

Thought he'd be buried in the garage all day...

"One of the Count's mechanics is assisting Hezekiah to speed the work...We hope to have a  
temporary repair ready for tomorrow morning..."

Oh...Dulcinia looking a bit downcast...

"So soon?"...she sighed, looking up at those incredible white teeth and flashing eyes...

Hmmn...Miss DuBois couldn't prevent an involuntary frown...

"I fear so, my dear Miss Dulcinia...Time, sadly, is not necessarily on my side..." Angel gallantly  
apologized...

Oh...she sighed, looking at her cousin, the young Count...

"Can't you persuade them to stay a little longer, Vladimir...?"

He smiled...But alas, he noted, the Racers must be allowed to continue on their way...

"However..." he flashed his own rather gleaming smile...At Miss DuBois...

There is no reason not to make our final evening together...Memorable...  
Indeed...smiled Miss DuBois...Still twirling her parasol...

But she couldn't keep the thought out of her mind...Dulcinia Dracula...

Little blonde cluck...

Bet she's as dumb as her name...

"Which way to the Dracula place?..." Buffy-Millie asked a goatherd leading his flock across the  
road with his little girl assisting...

The innkeeper's directions had not been exactly...Detailed...For these abysmal roads...

Dracula...? the goatherd smiled...

Ah, another tourist...He eyed his little daughter who obviously knew the routine...

He put on a terrified expression...Dracula?...

Crossing himself...As he knelt in the road...

Dracula?...the little girl cried out...

Doing her best to give an impression of a pitifully fear-crazed peasant child...

Professor Fate-Walthrop scratched her head...What the...?

"Spare us from the fiendish Devil!..." the young man cried...

In rather good English, the professor noted...

But...he continued...Before you go to face...Certain death at the fiendish hands of Dracula...

Perhaps...You would care to hear his story...

She blinked a little at him...And noted that the little girl was smiling now, having recovered  
apparently from her shock...

"And..." he asked, hopefully...Displaying a vast set of crucifixes, charms, carved amulets hung  
on the inside of his large greatcoat...

"You might care to purchase a crucifix...Or some protective charms...To keep you safe during  
your encounter..."

Grr..eat...Buffy-Millie frowned...A tourist trap?...

Welcome to Draculaland...

But the little girl reminded her with a pang of her own little Buffy...So she went along and  
bought a crucifix and a charm...

Besides if young Vladimir opened his portal, they might actually come in handy...

The enterprising goatherd suggested she might care to stay at a certain inn in the village just by  
the estate...Run by a "good friend"...

Who hasn't fled in terror from the fiend?...she asked with a grin...

Well...he smiled back...Rather handsome little fellow, she noted...As he winked a bit...

In any case the grounds about the estate are truly beautiful...And the mountain views the best in  
Romania, he noted...

And gave her detailed directions...With an honest urging that she avoid being caught on the  
backroads, especially at night...

There were actually dangers here...Some natural and sadly some human...Bandits and the like...

I thought I was on a backroad...Buffy-Millie looked at the rutted trail...

This, dear lady, was once an imperial Roman road...the goatherd noted proudly...Built under the  
great emperor Trajan...And is now our main road in this area...

In some need of repair, he noted ruefully...But reasonably safe for you...Until dark, he  
emphasized...

"Please give our greetings to the Countess if you meet her...I once worked for the estate as a  
younger man..." he smiled...

Tell her Gregory Ionescu remembers them all fondly...

And doesn't mean to add to her woes with his little trade...he grinned...

She smiled at him and started "ole Bossy" on her way...

Gee...She thought...Looking back at the bright-eyed little girl who waved...They haven't a clue  
what danger they could be in...This is all just a game and a little souvenir side business to them...

Well...Lets hope we can keep it that way...

Terrible horse that nice English lady has, daddy...the little girl looked at her father as she waved  
at the generous tall lady...

Awful...he agreed, frowning...Hope she hasn't any trouble getting to the estate...

He shook his head...It's one thing to make a little money from the tourists, it's quite another to  
put a poor lady alone like that in danger...

Well...He did have some lambs and other things to bring to market...And the market near the  
estate Dracula was a good one...Tourists and all...

And it would be nice to visit with the family and his other friends on the estate...

"Perhaps..." Gregory smiled at the girl... "We should go over to your uncle Constantine's...  
Borrow his wagon and see that our generous lady has no trouble getting to her destination?..."

His daughter nodded in agreement...A very nice lady...A little strange so tall and with the  
buckteeth and all...But very nice...

As a sympathetic friend and fellow supporter of womens' rights, Wilhelmina "Willow" Harris  
had sought to obtain any information she could for Millie Fate-Walthrop on the more nefarious  
activities of the Le Grand corporations...Any proof to back up Mil's claims of the LeGrands  
having worked to stymie her past and present efforts...

As likewise a friend of Millie's and more importantly as a husband anxious to please his hot-tempered, passionately devoted to friends and the Cause, wife, Alex Harris had provided Willow  
with access to certain "contacts"...Including their old friend on the NYPD, the indomitable, if  
perhaps a tad corrupt, Sgt. O'Connery...

Who was also an "old friend" of Hercule Le Grand...Though not by inclination...Drawing as the  
good sergeant did, a fine line between a little good-hearted larceny among friends which harmed  
no one and benefitted many...And the kind of genuine criminal and selfish disregard for the  
public good he sensed in the loathsome Mr. LeGrand...

Not to mention being well aware of the elder Le Grand's poorly concealed disdain for a certain  
ethnic group, common to New York, to which the sergeant belonged...

A sentiment which, thankfully, the younger LeGrand did not share in...Especially not in  
public...And before reporters...Or potential voters from the said ethnic group...

One must needs keep an eye on the future after all...And politics was the most promising field for  
America's Hero of the New Technologic Age, whenever he should get a tad too old for further  
heroics...Though, in all fairness, Angel's desire not to inflict hurt was a sincere one...

The sergeant was, therefore, with the additional persuasion of a "gift" or two from his friends the  
Harrises...Quite willing to offer the Harrises whatever information he could learn about Hercule  
Le Grand and son's affairs in the course of his interactions with them...

Interactions strictly in the line of NYPD business and duty of course...

***  
The two couples, Angel and Dulcinia, Vladimir and Miss DuBois strolled gaily along the trail  
back to the manor house...Followed by Elisabeth, Margarete, and the servants who'd  
accompanied the original party...

LeGrand and Miss DuBois spending more time on furgitively watching each other than their  
respective partners...

Vladimir noting his pleasure to Angel that a possible quick solution to the repair problem had  
been found...Much as he would have hoped for their stay to be longer...

But...After the victory had been won, perhaps he and Miss DuBois would consider a return  
visit...

Angel smilingly expressed his hope that it would prove possible...Or at least that the Count and  
his charming relatives would consider being his and his father's guests in Paris or New York...

"Oh..." Dulcinia gazed at her escort...

I should so like to see New York...

With you, Mr. LeGrand...As guide...she smiled...Clearly lost in those remarkably blue eyes...

"It would be my great pleasure, Miss Dulcinia..." Angel noted, smiling...

A flash of his remarkable pearly whites...

Miss DuBois groaned inwardly...More at herself than LeGrand...

Pausing at the village telegraphic office as he and old Volgrode strolled the village near the  
Dracula estate, Walthrop sent off telegrams to Paris...To his in-laws and his siblings informing  
them that all was, as always, quite well...And two to the inn on the Romanian border...One  
informing Millie that all was, really, quite well, she should just stay put, and he would rejoin her  
shortly after dealing with their "little problem"...

The other, to the innkeeper, asking when his wife had left in pursuit of him...And by what  
means...  
Max knew his wife...And, as he explained to old Dracula, had little real hope his first telegram  
might reach her before she found a way to come after them...Or if it did that it would have any  
preventive effect on her setting out...

He could not of course entirely suppress his pleasure at learning from the innkeeper's telegraphed  
reply an hour later that Mrs. Fate-Walthrop had indeed set out in pursuit of him...

Rather nice to be the pursued one...And definitely not taken for granted...

Volgrode nodded, with a sad smile...He understood completely...

Times were different in his day but his Elisabeth would have raced after him in similar fashion...

In fact, he sadly noted...Believing the lie that he was dead...She had come after him...In the only  
way open to her...Or so she had believed...

But...He patted his young friend's shoulder...Professor Fate-Walthrop was a Slayer...Armed with  
a full knowledge of the obstacles...And Science...And a Slayer, even if lacking the Slayer-of-A-  
demon-Infested-dimension's superior strength, was a survivor...

Besides...With luck...We will have succeeded in restraining young Vladimir before the good lady  
arrives...As for her journey here...

"We can only hope to fare as well in our effort as she no doubt will..." the old man  
concluded...Walthrop nodding...

But...Max smiled sheepishly, looking at his elderly if Immortal friend...

Doesn't stop me worrying...

No...Volgrode returned the smile...It never does...

***  
"Well?..." Willow looked at Alex...As they poured over the packet Sgt. O'Connery had dropped  
by the office for them...

Documents relating to patents filed by the LeGrand Machinery Works and LeGrand Motors over  
the past three years...

"Interesting..." Alex noted...

All closely following patents or patent applications for almost the exact same vehicle or  
propulsion system filed by Professor Millicent Fate-Walthrop...With the LeGrand patent either  
being allowed to slide by as sufficiently different...Or Millie's application having being  
rejected...For bureaucratic and rather suspicious reasons... "Application sent to wrong  
office...Drawings not included...Form A?6 lost..." , etc...

All routed through the same clerk...A former employee of LeGrand Machinery Works...

A former employee who had expected better treatment from the LeGrand corporation when fired  
by the patent office for certain unspecified "transgressions"...

And failing to receive what he'd expected as his due for loyal service, had provided the good Sgt.  
O'Connery with copies of the documents he'd saved...O'Connery having spread the word on the  
quiet that "friends" were interested in any of LeGrand's dealings concerning Mrs. Fate?  
Walthrop...

"So...LeGrand and his people have been stealing ideas from Mil for years..." Willow summed up,  
looking at her husband...

"Looks like it..." Alex agreed...

"Can't we go public with this?..." she asked...

Only if we can prove LeGrand prevented Millie's applications from going through...And that he  
received copies of her applications when they went into the patent office...

Else, Alex shrugged...It's hearsay...

Libelous hearsay...He eyed Willow...

"Not what we need right now..." Willow noted ruefully...

"We need to talk to the sergeant's little friend..." Alex looked at her...

And...he paused...It might be time to get some direct information on the LeGrands at the source...

"Are you suggesting...?" Willow grinned...

"We need a man inside..." Alex nodded...

Hmmn...A man at the LeGrand Machinery Works...Or the new Motor Company...

A technical expert whose natural talents would be recognized quickly...And who would therefore  
soon have access to relatively sensitive information...And to a broad range of the staff...

They looked at each other...

"Is he up to it, you think?..." Willow looked at Alex...

Well...He has occasionally claimed to want to try his hand at the reporting end...Alex noted...

And while his courage might at times be...A little wanting...His loyalty is unquestionable...

Besides, he's much more afraid of us than he'd ever be of LeGrand...His pension is in our  
hands...

"Of course...As Progressives who support the rights of Labor...I suppose we shouldn't ask him to  
take any risks...?" Willow looked away...

"Why the hell not?..." Alex replied... "He's a newsman, isn't he?..."

Besides he's not likely to hang around when danger threatens...

And he does need to get out more...he grinned at Willow...Who grinned back...

"Mears!..." they called...

Warren raced in from his office...

"Boss...?"

***

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXXII...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other  
owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural  
recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an  
alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So  
Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's  
another...

-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further  
-Into the body of a young Physics studennt in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble  
dealing with Angel's counterpart...  
-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of courrse...

Part XXXII...

***  
The village of Bredau...Five miles from the Dracula estate...Where Walthrop and old Volgrode  
waited for dusk and a chance to approach the estate grounds undetected...Was Professor Fate?  
Walthrop's destination...

Unfortunately the horse lent her...For a price that should have bought several fine horses in  
Transylvania...Was not cooperating...

Preferring increasingly to halt by the roadside and wheeze...

Although Buffy-Millie was basically a kind-hearted woman...The day was drawing on and her Max  
was in considerable potential danger should the foolish young Count Vladimir complete his plans to  
open a Hellgate and allow the Dracula vampire demon to take his body and enter this world...

So...She was rapidly losing patience with "ole Bossy"...A nickname bestowed on the horse in tribute  
to her counterpart Buffy Summers' utter lack of ability to distinguish between various farm animal  
types...

"Bossy" had decided to take another break...Her third in the last ten minutes...

Clearly her heart was not in this adventure...

The professor flailed the reins with no effect...A whip crack failed to disturb the horse's serene  
contemplation of the fields off to the left side of the road...

Fuming, Buffy-Millie got out and began pulling at Bossy's head...

The horse regarded her with a patient air...Clearly the poor lady was upset about something...

However "Bossy" was a horse who'd had her share of authoritative owners...And was not likely to  
be panicked or rushed by Millicent Fate-Walthrop...Formidable as she was...

She made the unfortunate decision to try shoving from the rear...And found herself slipping in  
mire...At a considerable cost in ruined clothes and pride...With no effect on the patient "Bossy"'s  
position...Though "Bossy" politely refrained from trampling her as she slid briefly underneath...

Returning to the front...Where the horse eyed her disheveled self sympathetically...A ten minute  
battle of wills ended in defeat for the professor...Neither her Buffy or Millie aspects providing much  
help in this encounter...

Though her Buffy side was eagerly seeking an excuse to allow for Slaying...A horse demon,  
perhaps...?...Rats no Hellgate, so no demons here as yet...

Concealing her chagrin she graciously decided to give the horse a bit of a rest pause... "Bossy", as  
befits a true lady, deigning not to notice the stream of colorful language emanating from her owner's  
mouth...

Gregory Ionescu and his daughter appeared in a small cart just coming over the rise in the road  
back...Pulled a horse in considerably better spirits...

Eyeing her horse, he pulled up by an embarrassed Buffy-Millie...Covered in muck and mire and  
trying to affect an air of nonchalance...

"Any problems, madame?..." he smiled...His daughter beaming...

***  
"Me, boss...?" Warren gulped...

Penetrate LeGrand Motors as a mechanic and find out what ole man LeGrand is up to...-Alex nodded...Exactly...

"This is a crucial assignment, Mears..." he noted...Willow nodding as well...Crucial...

The paper is counting on you...We're counting on you...

"But...Me...?" Warren fidgeted a little...

"You're a newsman, aren't you, son?" Alex eyed him...

And a damned fine technician/mechanic...

"You'll have no problems getting a position there...With the recommendations I'll provide you  
with..."

What if they give him a better job than he's got now?...Willow wondered to herself...

"Look, son..." Alex paused... "All you have to do is get in solidly with the management..."

And nobody like our Warren for brown-nosing...Willow thought...

"And report back to us what you can find out about LeGrand's activities...Especially the issues of  
the patents I've described..."

"What if someone catches me snoopin'?" Warren nervously asked...

"We'll be in constant contact..." Alex assured him...Our legal staff ready to assist if you get in any  
difficulties...

"If things get bad and you get exposed, just tell them you're a Sentinel reporter...They'll never  
bother a representative of the Press..."

We oughta be able to retrieve the corpse for burial at least without too much trouble Willow noted  
to herself...

Oh, well...The little fellow is much too inclined to self-preservation to put himself at any real risk...

***  
Evening shadows were creeping across the mountains surrounding the Estate Dracula, the mournful  
howls of a few wolves in the distance...

Walthrop and old Volgrode waited in the car near the grounds...Just a little more darkness and they  
could risk striking out across the estate...The roads in daylight being far too well guarded...

On the grounds, bonfires were being lit...For a final celebration for the guests of the house...

***  
Back in Bredau village, Professor Millie Fate-Walthrop was engaged in camouflage...

With the puzzled assistance of her kind friends the Ionescus...Who'd driven her into town after  
finding "ole Bossy" accommodations at a relative's...

"Why do you wish entry into the estate across the grounds?...At night?...It can be very dangerous,  
even if you slip past the guards there are wolves and other animals about..." Gregory noted...

And in that outfit...he sighed...Eyeing his daughter who shrugged...Tourists...

"This is a peasant's dress, right?..." Buffy-Millie looked at them...

If Queen Marie-Antoinette were playing at being a peasant, one might call it that Gregory noted  
wryly...

Oh...

"Too...Colorful?..." she asked...

Not if I were a guard on the estate shooting at you...Ionescu smiled...

"And speaking of shooting...The family's guard are very loyal, you know..." he paused...

Why can you not simply go to the house?...

"It's hard to explain...I told you that..." she eyed him...

But I have to get on the grounds...Tonight...And see what's going on there...

"You don't seem all that surprised by that...?" she paused...

Well...Gregory sighed...

"There have been a few rumors about young Vladimir's obsession with the occult..."

Talk of strange rituals, that sort of thing...But most of us figured he was probably just trying to  
enhance the tourist trade...

"Try this, ma'am..." his daughter offered a rather drab skirt and blouse...

Oh...Thanks...Buffy-Millie eyed the outfit...

I looked so good in these scarves and things she thought...This one's gonna make my teeth and chin  
stick out like...

Oh well...I can wear the other for Max and the kids some other time...

***  
Roasted pig, roasted lamb, roasted goat...the attendant noted to Miss DuBois as she looked at the  
giant trays of meat on the tables...Large slabs of wood set up by Vladimir's Roma attendants...

Hmmn...Down-home Romanian barbeque...she thought...

I think I can pass on the goat she noted to the server...

"Don't pass up the wolves' tongue..." Elisabeth teased behind her...

A real delicacy...

Behind her, Marguerite and Dulcinia faithfully and determinedly heaping plates for Angel...

Hezekiah well tended to by a similar group of estate farmers' daughters...

Vladimir off to get the evening's entertainment underway...

He'd promised a grande finale to their stay...And intended to keep his word, he had assured them...

***  
A telegram reached Hercule LeGrand in his Paris office...An agent dispatched to find his idiot son  
and the disabled Angel Special had reached the area of the Dracula estate...And had seen Professor  
Fate's Hannibal Super Twin?8 in the vicinity...

Clearly the professor was up to something...Perhaps involved in the "accident" that had halted his  
boy...

He sighed...If only his boy had that girl's spunk and ruthless determination...

Ah well..But, why was she hanging around instead of roaring on to Austria and Italy?...

Well...No need to look a gift horse in the mouth...

He sent orders to Bucharest to have other agents move into the area...With orders to deal with the  
Walthrops by any...Undetected...means...

Surely in the wilds of Transylvania there were plenty of ways for that intrepid couple to meet the  
accidental death he'd been trying to present them with for so long...

***

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXXIII...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other  
owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural  
recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an  
alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So  
Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's  
another...

-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further  
-Into the body of a young Physics studennt in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble  
dealing with Angel's counterpart...  
-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of courrse...

Part XXXIII...

A rather frenzied series of Roma dances was in progress at the main building of young Count  
Dracula's experimental farm...Bonfires lit around in honor of the Great Racers Angel LeGrand and  
his companions the intrepid and pioneering reporter Madeline DuBois and Angel's assistant  
Hezekiah...

A few of the Roma and the estate farmers, especially the children, were staring, fascinated, at Miss  
DuBois...Never seen a black lady before she smilingly noted to the Count's sister Elizabeth as they  
sat with Angel, Hezekiah, and the count's and Elizabeth's cousins, Marguerite and Dulcinia...The  
countess Varina, mother to Vladimir and Elizabeth having retired after the meal...

Especially such a lovely one, Elizabeth smiled back...

The young Count Vladimir was in the midst of his musicians, beaming at the dancers and his guests  
as he played a violin in wild style, dashing about the floor...Angel and the others keeping time as  
best they could, clapping and shouting...

Quite a tale for her next story pouch, Miss DuBois thought contentedly...

Only fly in the ointment...Misses Dulcinia and Marguerite's continuous, annoying hero-worship of  
LeGrand...

Nothing new, of course...Those flashing eyes, that perfect, dazzling smile, the always white clothes,  
and that carefully cultivated hero's bearing had won the hearts of millions...Still, one could wish  
he'd give it a rest...

Though to be fair, she noted to herself...He wasn't actively pursuing them...Just a kind of reflex  
egotism...An intense gravitational field generated by his...well, one must be honest...and  
forthright...tremendous good-looks, overpowering, but and all the more overpowering for it, gentle  
charm, terrific sex appeal...one must always be forthright...and the, well...only way to describe  
it...charming innocence of his vanity...

It was only natural from his point of view that everyone adored him...The nature of things...

Anything else suggested disharmony in the Angel LeGrand universe...And unhappiness...Which to  
his credit and as his most appealing feature, he hated to see in the people around him...

The world should be a happy place and the people in it, content...After all, he was here, wasn't he?...

"Sorry?...What...?" she looked at Elizabeth who'd obviously just asked her something...

The countess smiled, nodding at the dancers, and shook her head...Bit too much noise...Raising her  
voice...

"I asked if you'd like to get some photographs...I can bring my camera...We could use my darkroom  
later on..."

"Oh... Yes, certainly...Can I help?..."

The countess shook her head...Back in just a moment...

I really have to find better things to think about than Angel LeGrand, Miss DuBois told herself  
somewhat crossly...Frowning a bit as she caught Angel staring at her...

Hmmn...What the devil is she upset with me about now?...he wondered, looking back at the  
dancers...

***  
The short, pudgy man eyed his way narrowly across the factory floor...Now empty of workers...

Perfect...Not a soul left in the vast LeGrand factory...  
Hiding out in the men's room had been a stroke of genius...

Now just a matter of slipping over to the office, rifling quickly through a few files and...

Warren Mears...Ace investigative reporter for the New York Sentinel...Would have his first scoop...

"You there!...Mears?..." A shout from the back...

"Your shift ended an hour ago...What the hell are you doing here?..." McHenry, the factory  
foreman...

He came over, a tall, brawny type...Very tall, very brawny...

Left something in my locker...Warren smiled feebly...

McHenry frowned...Little fellow was able enough with the machinery...Surprisingly so...But he'd  
felt something not quite right about him from the start...

A sneak thief, perhaps?...

Well...

"What are you up to Mears?" he growled...

Notebook...Mears waved his book...Left it...

Hmmn...McHenry glared...

Say...What was McHenry doing here? Warren wondered to himself...

Nobody else being around except the guards at their booths outside...

Large box he's got over there on the bench...Hmmn...

"You gettin' some stuff ready for the weekend shifts?..." Warren asked innocently...

"None of your business!..." McHenry glared at him...

Take your notebook...And get out...

Hmmn...

"Big box you got there, Mr. McHenry..." Warren innocently noted...

Well this was LeGrand Machinery Works...Honesty not exactly the quality most highly prized in  
this particular workplace...

A guard rapped at the main door...And entered...McHenry looking at him...

A hair nervously, Mears noted...

With a natural instinct...

"Anything wrong here?" the guard called...

"Just gettin' some stuff together with Mr. McHenry..." Warren called back...

For the weekend shift...he eyed McHenry who stared back...

Yeah...McHenry agreed...Mears and I are just wrapping it up...

Ok...The guard left...

McHenry eyed Mears...Mears looked innocently back at him...

"See you Monday..." McHenry nodded, grabbing his box...Heading to the door...

Hmm-hmmn...Warren returned the nod...And headed for the office...

***  
Well...? Max eyed old Volgrode as they waited near the car...

Sun was setting now...

The old Immortal nodded and they began carefully wending their way across the edge of the  
meadow running to the main estate grounds...Keeping to the trees of the bordering forest as much as  
possible...

Without, hopefully, attracting the interest of the wolves living in said forest...

Having left Gregory's daughter with friends in the village, Buffy-Millie and Ionescu were likewise  
preparing to enter the estate grounds...However, Gregory had won her to a different course...

To simply enter via the main road...As old friends of the family...Gregory Ionescu and his  
cousin...Makja...

On a market trip to Breslau, stopping by to pay respects to the Countess and family...

Whatever was going on later...The estate's hospitality was boundless as always and the party was  
for the moment open to all visitors...The guards waved them on in...One preceding them to announce  
them to Countess Varina...

Buffy-Millie glanced hopefully around, looking for William...Maybe he and Volgrode had just  
strolled in as well...

Hmmn...No sign of Max or his Immortal companion at least among the farmers, villagers, and  
Roma staff moving along the road...

They approached the huge main barn of the experimental farm...Where music and loud cries were  
emerging...With bonfires lit all around...

As always Angel LeGrand rates...she frowned to herself...

No doubt a flock of adoring reporters and women in attendance...

***

Careful...Willow hissed to Alex...As he crept along the fence outside the LeGrand Machinery  
Works...She following...

She was liking this idea less by the minute...Not only the imminent danger of being shot or arrested  
or arrested and then shot...This sort of thing couldn't be good for Alex's heart...Neat as the idea of  
providing back up for their "operative" had seemed when he proposed it...

The things a Progressive employer does for his employees...she shook her head...

Still, they wanted to be sure Mears carried out his assignment and secured the patent  
documents...And without them being around to screw up his courage, he'd no doubt find some  
ridiculous excuse for failure having to do with the armed, rather thuggish guards and fierce attack  
dogs scattered around the factory entrances...

And Alex was living up to his promises to include her in all aspects of the business...A model  
Progressive husband, she noted fondly...

He halted, raising a hand...And they huddled against the fence...

Hmmn...he grinned...Thought I'd heard...

"Hey!...You there!..." a guard yelled...Several more coming over...

Plan A...Alex hissed...

Thank God we're still outside the grounds, Willow noted, unbuttoning the upper part of her  
blouse...They may actually believe this one...

She embraced Alex passionately...He loosened her hair...

Hey...Might as well make it look good...

And no reason not to enjoy it...  
The guards came up...The embarrassed lovers eyed them sheepishly...Hi...

Ummn...Just out for a walk...Alex noted...

With my girl here...

"This is private property..." an older guard eyed them...

Alex pointed out that they were outside that private property...

"Our fence is private property as well..." the guard glared at him...

Is this fellow?...Accosting you, miss?...he asked Willow...Looking at her loose hair and blouse...

"My husband..." she smiled...Hastily buttoning up under the guard's cold stare...

Just rekindling the romance...she noted...On this beautiful summer's eve...

Sorry to bother you...she smiled at the guard...Who frowned but waved them off...

"Bohemians..." he muttered to his younger fellows...Looking after the departing Harrises...

"Bohemians..." the two younger guards grinned nervously at each other...Nodding...As they  
followed their elder shift partner back...

***

While setting up for photos with the Countess Elisabeth, Miss DuBois had continued a moderate  
occasional glare at LeGrand...Basking as he was in the fervent attention of the Dracula cousins,  
Dulcinia and Marguerite...Not to mention several dozen equally adoring females from the various  
estate farm families and villagers invited to the festivities...

Why am I concerning myself with this conceited...? her thought when a break from her work  
permitted...

I am an intelligent, reasonably attractive, independent woman...And there are millions of fine,  
intelligent, reasonably attractive, relatively modest men...Of any race...Who would find me  
quite...Interesting...

Is Millicent Fate-Walthrop right?...

Do I?...Gulp...

Like him...?

Say...Maybe it's just racial insecurity...He's the great white leader of this little excursion...I  
subconsciously want to prove my womanly abilities by attracting him...  
Perfectly understandable...if horrible...From a psychological perspective...

She eyed him as he beamed on several young girls vying for his autograph...

Bet he couldn't even spell "psychological"...

Count Vladimir, now released from his duties as performing musician, came over...

Winning a smile from her...As LeGrand looked over at them...

Hezekiah eyed them from his seat on the benches above Angel...Glancing at the Boss as well...

Uh-boy...

***

"Well..." Alex beamed at Willow...As they sat in their car, several blocks from the factory...

That should have bought Mears enough time to do the job and slip out...

Willow grinned back...Our first espionage assignment...

Someday we gotta try this overseas...For the government...

Still...Alex shouldn't overdo...

"You looked very nice back there, Wilhelmina Harris..." he smiled...

Never was a lady's reputation compromised with such style...And beauty...

He eyed her...She grinned back...

Hmmn...Well, the doctors have pronounced him fit to engage in a reasonable amount of...

Activity...

"Boss!..." Warren banged on the car door...

Damn...Almost worth it for the guards to have shot him...Willow thought...

Well, shot at him...

"Did you get the documents?..." Alex glared at him...Equally disappointed Willow happily noted...

Mears nodded, lifting a small pouch...

Well, still early...And the children ought to be asleep by the time we get back...she thought...  
Alex looked the documents over quickly, grinning at Willow...

"I think friend Millie is going to find this stuff...Interesting..." he beamed...Good man...he nodded to  
Mears...

A true newsman...he pronounced...Mears reddening with pleasure...

She gave Warren a brief smile...He had succeeded, after all...And, equally important...she eyed  
Alex...

Been quick...

***

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXXIV...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other  
owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural  
recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an alternate  
existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So  
Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's another...

-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further  
-Into the body of a young Physics studennt in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble  
dealing with Angel's counterpart...  
-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of courrse...

Part XXXIV...

"Makja Ionescu" continued to watch the celebration in the Great Barn of the experimental farm on  
the Estate Dracula...

Carefully avoiding any chance of being spotted by the...other...Great Racers present...

She eyed Miss DuBois from time to time when opportunity allowed...

So...A would be fellow Slayer...

If this particular dimension had had Hellgate access to the underworld's power...

A situation young Count Dracula insanely intended to rectify...Tonight, if his ancestor, the immortal  
Volgrode was correct...

Leetle disturbing...That annoying reminder that her Slayer power came from darkness...

What was it about the Dracula clan that made them so anxious to point that aspect of her nature out  
to her?...

Maybe they just couldn't bear the idea of the Slayer achieving both the power of darkness and the  
ability to fight for the light...

(Which after all was the goal this young Vladimir was trying to accomplish...In a way doomed to  
failure...And disaster...)

...While their aristocrat family could barely achieve the darkness part...With all due respect to old  
immortal Volgrode's quest for redemption...

Pity the boy hadn't set his eye on becoming a male Slayer...

Course...She thought proudly...There was one other family with a member who had achieved a  
similar unity of the dark and light...Against terrible odds...

Whose name she and her robot, human-souled twin sister...Well, other-dimensional,  
resurrection-Awaiting robot, human-souled twin sister...bore now...With great pride...Even if her  
own particular Walthrop in this dimension was pure human...

He was a William Walthrop to the core...

***  
The evening was beginning to wind down...The village families heading home, it now approaching  
midnight...

Hmmn...Angel noted, smiling to Hezekiah and the young Dracula ladies...

Apparently the witching hour is not quite as fearful for people here as the world assumes...

Heck, folks back in the good old States would probably be more superstitious about strolling this  
late..

He caught a brief glimpse of "Makja"...Fortunately Buffy-Millie had taken care to keep her head  
and therefore her infamous teeth and chin well-wrapped in her shawl...

Still, LeGrand couldn't help feeling he'd seen that woman somewhere...Before...

A handwritten note, Miss DuBois noted with pleasure...Taking it from the Roma attendant who'd  
offered it to her...

Now that's a little style...

"My dear Madame...

Please believe me when I say that I would never presume to act in such a rash manner except that  
our time together is so limited. I must see you for a few short moments...Tonight...After the  
festivities, here at the barn. I can assure you that a proper escort will be provided so that your  
reputation will not be endangered.

Yours,

Vladimir..."

***

You're sure you can't...Do something?...Max asked Volgrode...For the fifth time...

The Roma guards who'd captured them within ten minutes of their venturing onto the estate  
grounds, frowning fiercely...As they sat in the tent they'd been taken to...In the chairs they'd been  
handcuffed to...

"I am afraid not, my young friend...My Immortality is my only supernatural gift..."

However...He paused...

He was still...Dracula...The original...

The one and only...If not the vampire of legend in this dimension at least...

And a Warrior Prince of Romania...

The legendary Impaler...

In a voice of steel he ordered the men to release him and his guest...Eyeing them with an iron cold  
stare...

They wilted and looked to their commander...Who likewise wavered...

Fortunately...For them...Help now arrived...

In the person of young Count Dracula...Who'd taken a brief leave from the party...

"Good evening...Uncle..." Vladimir eyed Volgrode...Staring briefly at Walthrop...  
"Mr...Walthrop?...I presume..." he smiled...

Is your remarkable wife by any chance about?...I have so longed to make her acquaintance...

***  
Perhaps, Madeleine pondered...

It was time to be...Forthright with the young Count...

Whatever feelings he might have for her were most likely the result of exposure to something new  
and exciting...

Not really something likely to last...

On the other hand...Would a brief bout of carefully measured romance with a handsome young  
aristocrat be all that...?

Providing a comparison to LeGrand's style at any rate...

She frowned internally at herself...Hardly the forthright, no nonsense, professional style she liked to  
think of as her standard manner...

"Miss DuBois?..." Angel approached her...Amazingly, Marguerite and Dulcinia had at last left  
him...

"Mr. LeGrand?..." she eyed him...

He smiled at her...Not that ridiculous pose-for-The-cameras teeth flash, she had to admit, gratefully...

Simply a warm smile...If a rather attractive one...

One must be forthright, after all...

"Quite an evening..." he noted... "Our hosts have done us proud..."

Indeed...

"I saw you and Elisabeth taking photographs..." he paused...

Photographs...Naturally he caught that scent, she thought...

"I hope they come out well...It should make for quite a story in your paper..."

Indeed...

Hezekiah came over...Hmmn...His frowning face eyed them...

"Boss...We oughta check the car once more tonight..."

Yes, yes...LeGrand waved a hand...Be right along...

Hmmn...Showing a touch of impatience, there...she thought, eyeing him...Rather pleased in spite of  
herself...

"I...Was wondering, Miss DuBois..." he began...

Yes, Mr. LeGrand?...

If...I...Might...

"Boss...? Should I head over and get started?" Hezekiah gave an air of innocence his best shot...

Yeah...Angel eyed him narrowly...You do that...

"I'll be right along..."

"So...Mr. LeGrand...?" she looked up at him...

"I was wondering if I might...Escort you back to..."

"Ah...My dear Miss DuBois..." Vladimir hurried into the barn...Back from seeing off several more  
wagonloads of his departing guests...

I am so glad you waited for me...

Angel looked at him...And her...Blinking...

Hmmn...Miss DuBois thought...Smiling back at Vladimir...

Mr. LeGrand could stand to be taken down a peg or two...

"Count...It was so kind of you to offer to escort me around the estate...At night..." she smiled at  
LeGrand...

The Count is so kind...she noted...

In...Deed...Angel forced a tight smile at the young count...

"You will excuse us, Mr. LeGrand...?" she smiled gently at him...Twirling her parasol as she took  
Vladimir's proffered arm...

"A fine night's rest to you, my friend..." Vladimir nodded to him, grinning...With a slight bow...

In...Deed...Angel returned the bow...Slightly...  
Watching them as they strolled off into the night, a couple of attendants following with lanterns...

Hmmn...

"Hezekiah!..." he called, striding grimly to the car...

We are leaving tomorrow morning...If it takes all night to get the car in shape...he thought  
furiously...

Glancing back at Miss DuBois' twirling parasol...

***  
"I've got to stay...Stick around and wait for Max to show..." Buffy-Millie hissed to Gregory as their  
wagon moved towards the road leading from the barn to the main gate...

He sighed...Well...There are some dark areas where we could turn off...

"But this seems so..." he paused...Waving his hands...

"Believe me...The danger is real..." Buffy-Millie eyed him...

My Max not showing being quite danger enough for me...Though yeah...The rest of the world is  
probably in danger too...she thought...

"Your young Count is off the deep end...If his "granduncle" is right..."

You know he's been dabbling around in the occult...she reminded him...

"Very well, dear miss...Let us hope the guards will be in good spirits this evening and not shoot us  
before inquiring after us..." he shook his head...

If they do...No doubt the Countess Varina will see we're well cared for...he noted dryly...

Ummn...she paused...Eyeing him...Hmmn...Little girl waiting for him back in the village...

Cute little girl...Lot like her own lil' Buffy...

"Maybe I should go alone, Mr. Ionescu...Your little girl is waiting for you..."

Well...he shrugged...If you are right, Miss...My daughter is as much in danger as anyone...

"I'll stay...If nothing else, the family might be more kindly disposed to an old family retainer found  
wandering the grounds than a stranger..."

"Great..." she grinned... "Thanks..."

Now...We gotta go find Max...

"I hope you have enjoyed seeing something of our homeland, Miss DuBois..." Vladimir eyed her as  
they strolled...Away from the Great Barn and towards a meadow and clusters of farmers' model  
cottages...

"I have Count...Very much so...A beautiful and thrilling land, you have here..." she replied, smiling  
at him...

Hmmn...Going off the beaten path a bit here?...Still we've got the servants and their lanterns...And  
he did want to show me more of the estate at night...

"Yes...But so long under the heel of our oppressors...So newly free...With so many powerful enemies  
surrounding us..." Vladimir noted...

"Well..." she smiled at him... "I'm sure the courage of your people will prove equal to the task of  
defending your independence..."

"Courage is nothing without the tools and strength to fight..." he sighed... "Our history, including  
that of my own family...Is full of brave, but defeated heroes..."

"We must have the power to fight off the enemies who surround us..." he stared at her...

Hmmn...This doesn't sound like a social outing...

"You know, Count...If this is some kind of diplomatic...I'm only a reporter for a newspaper..."

Pity Professor Fate's little Max Walthrop isn't here, she noted to him...He's a personal friend of  
Teddy Roosevelt...

He eyed her carefully...Intensely...

Hmmn...I think it's time I was heading back...she thought...

"Much as I admire your fine nation, Madame...It is not an alliance I seek for our nation..."

There is another world beyond our own, he explained...

Many in fact...

Really?...Miss DuBois smiled...Eyeing the servants now rather close in on them...

"And some of those "other" worlds hold the key to unimaginable power..." he continued...

Again with the intense stare...

Fascinating...Miss DuBois nodded...  
"I have some things I would very much like to show you, Madame..." he signed to his men, who  
parted to let a small carriage come through...

"Proofs of the things of which I speak...And a tale to tell...Which will doubtless enthrall your  
readers..."

He extended a hand to her...

Ummn...

"Perhaps another time..." she smiled, a little woodenly...

I am afraid, my dear lady...I must insist...he stared at her...

Intensely...

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXXV...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other  
owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural  
recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an  
alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So  
Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's  
another...

-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further  
-Into the body of a young Physics studennt in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble  
dealing with Angel's counterpart...  
-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of courrse...

Part XXXV...

The carriage bearing young Dracula, Miss DuBois, and several of his attendants reached a secluded  
temple-like structure deep in the estate woods...  
"I demand that you take me back at once!..." Miss DuBois sternly insisted...For the fifth time...

"Madame...I swear you'll not be harmed..." the young Count told her earnestly...

"But it is essential for our beloved nation's continued independence that we obtain the strength we  
need to defend ourselves against the mighty powers that surround us..."

He waved the attendants to bring her along into the building where a group of hooded figures  
awaited them in a large cavernous hall...Large candles illuminating a kind of altar of...

Bones?...she blinked...

Vladimir reverently knelt before a large flag of Romania, placed near the altar...The others,  
including the hooded ones likewise knelt or bowed their heads...

"For our beloved country..." the young Count murmured...Echoed by those in the room...

Grrreat...Human sacrifice used to be big here once, didn't it...she thought...

Vladimir returned to her, somewhat calmer...

"I demand that you..." she began...For the sixth time...

He shook his head...

Madame...I truly apologize for the methods we have been forced to employ...But I again assure you  
your life is in no danger...

"I ask only a small sample of your blood...Less than a half-pint...Taken by my dear friend the doctor  
here in perfect safety..."

He indicated a hooded man, who came forward...And moved over to a small table...

A table on which several rather sharp-looking instruments lay...

My...Blood?...Miss DuBois stared at the young man...

Who clearly had taken the Stoker novel about his family much too much to heart...

"Can you work your ropes free a little?..." Max hissed to old Volgrode...As they sat bound in their  
chairs in a small room of the "temple" where Miss DuBois was about to undergo an involuntary  
blood donation...Under the watchful eye of two Roma guards...

Not at present...Volgrode whispered back...Eyeing the guards...

One was called away...Trouble outside...Cries...  
Hmmn...Max noted in a whisper...Something's up outside...

A moment...Volgrode hissed back...

And let out a groan, collapsing forward in his chair...

The guard came over cautiously...The elder member of the Dracula clan, after all...And in his care...

Volgrode tensed...The ropes fell away...And kicking the guard back against the wall, grabbed a  
sword and held it to the man's throat...

Grinning back at Walthrop...

"An old trick I learned in my military days..." he smiled...Nudging the guard back to where Max sat,  
still bound, and cutting him free...

Always nice to have an experienced veteran by your side in a battle, Max smiled back...

They cautiously crept to the door...The guard bravely let out a stifled yell for help...

Devoted fellows...Max noted...As they shoved the first guard back into the room and two more raced  
to their door...Swords in hand...

He sighed...Swords again...Grabbing the one Volgrode tossed him...

Lucky Millie isn't here...She'd be so worried for me...As he moved to face one of the two...

***

No sign of anyone...Or anything...Buffy-Millie thought...As she and Gregory cautiously moved  
through the woods on the path they'd taken on leaving his cart...Following a few briefly seen  
lanterns in the distance...

Max...Damn you, I know you're here somewhere...

A branch snapped in front of them...

"Who are you?..." Elisabeth, in a cloak, with a masked lantern...Stared at them...

Miss Elisabeth?...Gregory asked quietly...

"Gregory Ionescu?..." she eyed him...

Why are you out here?...

She smiled at Buffy-Millie...

Is this...Your wife...?

Oh, no...Buffy-Millie replied...You see...

"Gregory..." Elisabeth sighed, frowning at him...

"My mother would be so disappointed in you..."

He gave an apologetic look...With a ghost of a smile behind it...

Hmmn...More than Mom disappointed in ole Greg, I'd say...Buffy-Millie thought, eyeing the  
frowning Elisabeth...

"Countess Elisabeth Dracula...May I present Professor Millicent Fate-Walthrop..." he smiled...

She blinked at Buffy-Millie...

"I'm sorry to trespass like this, Countess..." Buffy-Millie began...

See...I'm looking for my husband...Who's here somewhere with your "granduncle"...

Who are here...Ummn...You see...

"Vladimir?..." Elisabeth sighed...

Oh...So she knows her brother's nuts...That should make things easy...Buffy-Millie thought  
contentedly...

"Careful, my friend!..." old Volgrode called to Max...As he expertly slashed at his opponent, who  
fell hastily back...

Max having a bit harder time of it...But managed to duck a killing thrust and hop back over a  
chair...

"Enough!..." A woman's voice called...

The guards backing off...

"Don't force me to shoot you, Volgrode...Or your friend..." Countess Varina stepped forward, gun  
in hand...

Varina...Volgrode sighed...

"You too?...My dear child, you have no idea of the forces you and your foolish son are playing  
with..."

Hmmn...The mother?...thought Max, allowing a guard to take his sword while he put up his hands  
with Volgrode...

Well, a boy's best friend...

***

"I believe my brother is attempting something terribly dangerous tonight..." Elisabeth noted to  
Buffy-Millie and Gregory as she led them through the woods...

For months, he's talked of utilizing the powers of the world beyond our own...At first I thought he  
was merely humoring my "granduncle"...Pretending to believe his strange tales of our family and  
the Dracula of another world...

But then...He began accumulating occult materials...Seemed obsessed...And I worried...But it  
seemed only a excessive interest, a hobby...

Moreover, my mother insisted on indulging him, encouraging him in his researches...she paused...

I thought that it must be harmless if she could see so little danger in it...

"Hmmn...I think your mother was mistaken..." Buffy-Millie noted. as they crept along...

I fear it may be worse than that, Professor...Elisabeth eyed her...

Several days ago I found them practicing a ceremony of some kind together...

I hoped...When Mr. LeGrand and the others appeared...That Vladimir had found a new interest to  
divert him...

But...Tonight...My mother left the house...Went into the woods without a word to the house  
servants...

"And left this..." she handed Buffy-Millie a small book...

A book of ancient rituals...she eyed the Professor...To acquire great power from the world beyond...

Nearly all involving some form of human sacrifice...

***

"We must have more..." Vladimir noted to his friend the doctor...Who was cautiously extracting  
blood from a chair-bound, mildly tranquillized Miss DuBois...

Max and old Volgrode now in attendance as well, courtesy Countess Varina...Who'd arranged for  
them to be secured in chairs a second time...With handcuffs this time...And more guards posted...

"And you must hurry...The time is drawing nigh..." he anxiously looked out at the full moon, rising  
in the night sky...

But take care the lady is not harmed, he added...Eyeing Walthrop who stared at him...

"I am not insane, my dear Walthrop..." the young man noted...

My research has been through...I will succeed in tapping the dark forces of the other dimension...The  
dimension of the dark Dracula...

Your wife's spirit's home world...

"You won't be able to control the demon, sir..." Max replied...

Millie assures me the thing can't be held in check...Even by the strongest soul...

"You will be bringing great suffering, not help to our people, Vladimir..." Volgrode chimed in...

The power can be controlled...Vladimir insisted...I have studied the means and prepared myself...

"Varina..." Volgrode turned to the Countess... "He is wrong...The power is too dangerous..."

The demon...My demon counterpart...Is a Beast...It will kill you all...

"God will protect my boy, Volgrode...And our country..." she replied...

And I have the means to destroy him here if he fails...she added, lifting a stake...And a cross...

"You won't be able to stop him..." Max told her...

You must listen to us...

"The risk..." she paused, eyeing them... "Must be taken..."

Just as Vladimir's father sacrificed his life in freeing our country...

***  
The three would?be rescuers had found the "temple" in the woods...

Surrounded by guards...

"We will need more assistance..." Elisabeth noted...

Perhaps...she eyed the Professor...Your competitor...

Angel?...Buffy-Millie frowned...

Eh...she waved a hand...We can handle this...

The guards were joined by another wagonload...Well armed from the looks of it...

Hmmn...Wish I had one of my grenades right now...Buffy-Millie thought...

Well...she paused, thinking...I suppose...

Angel would make a good target for them to shoot at while I run get Max...

"Maybe you should go and get LeGrand..." she nodded at Elisabeth...

***  
Women...Angel explained to Hezekiah as they struggled with the car's jury-rigged transmission  
repair...In some danger of failing, Hezekiah had noted when they had tested it an hour ago...

Are fickle creatures...

Even the best of them...The most intelligent and resolute...

Can...Waver...

Hezekiah nodded as best he could while trying to lift part of the car...

And easily fall into associations...Not worthy of them...

Hmm-hmmn...Like my cousin back in Jersey...Hezekiah noted...Straining at a stuck bolt...

Definite "unworthy" association there...And if I ever get my hands on the bastard...

Hmmn...Well...Angel paused...

"Mr...LeGrand?..." Elisabeth came running up...

Ah, Countess...

"I...Need...Your help...In the woods...Immediately..."

Not an unusual request for Angel LeGrand...

Though not usually made in so bold a manner...By a Countess, no less...

***

Hmmn...

As usual, LeGrand was taking his time, Buffy-Millie thought...Eyeing Gregory beside her...  
Awaiting the arrival of reporters before making his heroic charge, no doubt...

And things are definitely picking up in that "temple"...

A carriage pulled up...The young Count emerged...With Miss DuBois, apparently brought in under  
duress...

And quite put out about it...

But more guards as well...

The group went inside...

As, a moment later, did most of the guards...

Hmmn...Things are definitely picking up...Buffy-Millie thought...

Just gotta make sure Max is in there...

"We need to get inside..." she hissed to Gregory...

And we can't wait all night for LeGrand...

"I have an idea..." Gregory replied...

Miss Elisabeth said that the Count was quite interested in you...he eyed her...

Hmmn...

"Now let me get this straight..." Angel paused, eyeing Elisabeth...

Millie Fate-Walthrop is here...On the estate...In the woods...And asked you to tell me that Miss  
DuBois is in danger...?

From your brother Vladimir...?

Elisabeth nodded hastily...Yes and...

"And this...Danger...Involves...Some kind of occult ritual...?" Angel paused...

Which may threaten...Thousands?...Or more?...

He looked at Hezekiah...Hezekiah rolled his eyes...

Elisabeth looked pleadingly at him...

"Please Mr. LeGrand...We are quite sincere..."  
Aristocrats...Hezekiah sighed to himself...

Well...Angel thought...If Millie Fate is involved...Something bizarre is sure to be afoot...

And even if this is some kind of ridiculous ploy, Madeleine is sure to be pleased by his coming  
without hesitation...For her sake...

"Well...If Madeleine...er Miss DuBois...Is in any possibility of danger..." he paused...

"Hezekiah, you'd best stay with the car...Just in case..." he eyed his assistant...Who nodded...

Boss?...Hezekiah pulled his coat back...Revealing quite an impressive array of firepower...

Right, Angel nodded...Selecting a pistol...

"Please, Countess..." Angel politely waved her to lead on...

Hmmn...He thought...

First time I ever called her...Madeleine...

Pretty name, that...

Madeleine...

Found this one wandering in the woods, Gregory noted to the guards by the "temple" door, doing his  
best to look Roma fierce as he dragged Buffy-Millie forward...

She pulled away to face the guards...

At least I get to make my favorite entrance...she thought happily...

"I...Am Professor Fate..." she announced...

The guards looked at each other...

Geesch...Hasn't anybody heard there's someone else besides Angel LeGrand in this damned  
race...she thought grumpily...

Or are they just so shocked to find out I'm a woman...?

The guards waved Gregory in with his "prisoner"...One leading the way...

Count Vladimir was indeed very anxious to see this one...

Suggested theme...Slayer's Party in Romania (O Fortuna)  
"Count Vladimir Dracula?..." Buffy-Millie asked...As they entered the main hall and Vladimir  
stepped forward...

Miss DuBois sat in a daze in a chair, the doctor having just completed his withdrawal...

The vital fluid now in a bowl on the altar...

Millie!...Max cried...

Damn you, girl...he thought...Rather happily...

Professor...The Count bowed...

"I see you're entertaining my husband..."

"An unfortunate necessity, Madame..." he nodded...

But this will all be over in a moment...If you would be so good as to take a seat...

My men will see that no one is harmed after I complete the ceremony...

Several guards moved on her...

She smiled at him...Pulling something out...

What the hell?...Max thought, watching...Is that?...

Yep, it's that wooden stake she made years ago...

Lord, has she been carrying it around with her all this time?...Waiting for a chance to use it?...

"Please be seated, Professor..." the Countess moved towards her, gun by her side...

My son will be finished in a few moments...And you will be free to go...

"Your son will be finished all right, lady..." Buffy-Millie eyed her...

Frowning, Vladimir turned to the altar...And lifted an orb given by one of his hooded attendants  
above the bowl of Miss DuBois' would-be-Slayer blood...

"Kid..." Buffy-Millie smiled at the young Count... "You're all wrong...And you're walking in my  
territory now..."

Please...The Countess stared at her...Motioning to the guards...

Be seated, Mrs. Walthrop...Or our men will seat you...

Gregory turned at the guards...Pointing his own pistol at them...  
"Standoff, Countess..." Buffy-Millie smiled...

She winked at Max...

Careful sweetheart...His expression said...As he continued to struggle with the handcuffs...

She does look very happy though, he thought...

Maybe we should travel more...

"Hardly that, my dear..." Varina waved her pistol and pointed at Max...Signaling the guards to  
move in...

Buffy-Millie eyed young Dracula...Who did bear rather a resemblance to the one she'd...er Buffy'd  
met before...

Vladimir continued the ceremony, chanting from a book held open by one of the hooded men...

Hmmn...she grinned at Max...

Nothing more fun than saving the one you love, she thought...

Though killing the one you most hate comes close...

Buffy-Millie grinned, swinging the stake in her hand...

Kinda neat to relive old...er, future...Times...

The Countess eyed her...Keeping her gun pointed at Max...

"For the last time, Professor..." she warned...

"So...You want to be a vampire..." Buffy-Millie smiled at the Count...

Well...She grinned at Walthrop...Tongue poking at the side of her mouth...

Watch me, Max...Watch me...Her expression clearly saying...

He couldn't help grinning back...

What a kid she is sometimes...A sweet kid...he thought happily...

This is so great...he thought...A chance for her to strut that Slayer stuff...

Just what she's been needing...

And me...Her appreciative audience...

"Here's the deal..." she told the young Count... "You open that Gate...You let the Dracula demon  
take your body...I get my Slayer strength back...I stake you...You and demon die..."

No Immortality, no super powers...

The Countess looked at her...

Vladimir?...she eyed him...

"Not to even mention that if you did escape me...Which you will not...You would care less about  
Romania and your people...All you'd want is blood, dead humans...A lot of dead humans...Buffy-Millie noted... "Female companionship, vampiral...Without much worry about who..." She eyed his  
now rather nervous mother "...And a nice place to live..."

The Count stared at her...Hesitant...

"Vladimir!..." old Volgrode called to him... "Listen to the Professor...I swear to you as a  
Dracula...She is the Slayer in her old dimension...All she has told you is true...And she will kill you,  
or the thing you become, if you do this..."

Or, I will...he noted...

Vladimir frowned at his "granduncle"...Turning from Professor Fate-Walthrop for an instant...

"Our country needs the protection of the Dracula..." he began...You have shown me the way...How  
can I neglect this chance to make our land secure?...

It is my free choice...I can master the dark powers to come within me...

"You've been misinformed, Count.." Buffy-Millie noted...Edging closer...

Mr. Stoker was talking out of his head to suggest that your vamp counterpart could retain any  
ability or desire to protect his nation or his family...she went on...

No vampire...of the family Dracula or any other...Can fight off the curse or hold the dark force  
inside him or her back...she concluded...

Unless of course he has a behavioral chip, a truly noble soul fighting within, and a loving wife to  
help him, she loyally noted to herself...

Or a twin sister's soul fighting within to save her...

Or at least a gypsy curse to call his soul back...  
"Oh..." she continued, moving slowly ever closer... "And did I mention?...Opening the Gate would  
cause thousands or even millions of innocent deaths, maybe even including my children..."

So you are not opening that Gate...she concluded...As she whipped her stake into the orb, smashing  
it...

A furious Vladimir turned back on her...Two hooded attendants rushed to his side...

Slayer strength or no, I've still got it...she thought, grinning at Max...With a radiant "did you see?"  
expression...

Nothing lost as to my aim, at least...she thought...

Max nodded proudly...I saw, honey...Smiling, but cried out to her as the young Count moved on  
her...

"Millie!..."

She jumped back...Vladimir pulled a small pistol from his jacket...

Dropping back her hood, Elisabeth grabbed her brother from behind...

LeGrand likewise moving in from the other side...

"Vladimir!...Enough!..." Elisabeth cried...

She knocked the gun from his hand...Angel picked it up and held it on him...

The Roma guards looked at the Draculas, clearly uncertain...Old Volgrode frowned at them...And  
stared coldly...

They backed off...Slowly...

Looks like he's still got it too, Buffy-Millie noted...

But an eerie play of light had continued to play at the altar...

The smoke was taking form...Or trying to...

Well, looky who's here...Buffy-Millie thought...

"Is that?..." Max called...

Yeah...she looked at him...

"Get Vladimir out of here!..." she cried to Elisabeth and LeGrand...

"He's the potential host..." she noted to Max and the others...

Angel staring at her in wonder...

Millie?...What the hell?...

But complied, dragging the struggling Count out to the front of the building...

The Countess following in some shock...Under her daughter's watchful eye...

The vague image of the Dracula Buffy had known was shaping...Trying to anyway...

Great...she thought...Don't tell me I hafta jump into this portal too...

Well...If he doesn't stay...The gate can't stay open...I hope...

The cloud was thinning...But Dracula never says die...And the demon tried to manifest...

Max ran up, calling to her...She waved him to stay back...

"Sweetheart, come back from that thing!..." he cried...

"I think it's gonna be ok, honey..." she called...

He's not getting through...I think we closed it in time...

The demon made one desperate last try to form...A vague face only...It eyed her in surprise...

"You!..."

Of course, he's the same one...she realized...Just a timeframe difference between Buffy's world and  
mine...

Moi, Buffy-Millie grinned at the raging, fading face...

"It's nice to be remembered...Especially in my multidimensional form..." she smiled...

"#$%^!" the face cried...

Hmmn...So that's the Romanian word for...

"Say hi to Angelis..." she told it as the face vanished and the cloud dispersed...

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXXVI...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other  
owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural  
recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an  
alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So  
Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's  
another...

-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further  
-Into the body of a young Physics studennt in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble  
dealing with Angel's counterpart...  
-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of courrse...

Part XXXVI...

Vladimir and his mother safety secured by Elisabeth and old Volgrode, Buffy-Millie, Max, and  
LeGrand could tend to the dazed Miss DuBois...

No need, however, Buffy-Millie noted to Max...To inform her of the details of their little adventure...

Not that anyone in this rational universe would ever believe the Slayer and vampire stuff if their  
intrepid reporter chose to write about it...But...They had enough of the "curious" visiting their home  
back in Indiana as it was now when all such people wanted was a gander at the "crazy female  
Professor" ...No need to add crazed occultists to the group...

A likewise rather dazed LeGrand seemed equally inclined to forget about this one...Not likely to sit  
well with his adoring Press or the public...

Still, Buffy-Millie had to concede...He was showing a genuine concern for Miss DuBois...

A remarkable concern really, insisting on taking her care over himself...Was that a "Madeleine...?"  
that had escaped his lips as he tended her?...Unbelievable, the Professor noted to her Max...

Walthrop for his part rather pleased to hear her tone...Fascinated, interested, but a rather  
dispassionate observer with no major stake in the matter...

Outside of course what advantage in the race she hoped and had been hoping the distracting effect  
of Miss DuBois' presence on Angel would provide...

Not...As he'd made clear to her earlier...That he regarded LeGrand as his true nemesis...

That role he still reserved in his mind for the Angel of the other..."Buffy"...universe...

Just...Nice to see her obsession with LeGrand was at a rather low ebb...

All due to her happiness at reliving a little of her old Slayer days...he noted...

Hmmn...Not that he'd want a bunch of demons and vampires from Hell wandering around hurting  
people and eventually posing a threat to his children, not to mention his would then be Slayer wife...

Just...Must be a way to give her the chance to feel more of that "save the world", "kick 'em in the  
guts" feeling...

Rather like the way his old friend President Teddy combated his natural melancholia and depression  
with vigorous action...What was it ole Ted used to say...Ah...

"Black care rarely sits besides a rider whose pace is face enough..."

Well, maybe winning this thing...Proving her genius once and for all...Putting LeGrand in his  
place...And then moving on at last to properly utilizing her skills would be the key...

Hmmn...He eyed their competitors...Angel, now joined by Hezekiah, at Miss DuBois' side...

Our work here, after all...Is done...

And it's high time we returned to the object of our travels...And travails...

"Mil...? Whatdaya say we get moving, sweetheart?...Time and tide you know?..." he smiled at her...

Hmmn-hmm...she nodded...

Old Volgrode and Elisabeth had returned...To report that the occult items stored in Vladimir's  
isolated "temple" were being destroyed...

By a rather large bonfire...They all watched the "temple" as it burned down...

"Count..." Buffy-Millie smiled at old Volgrode...The Immortal...

Our friend, Count Dracula...The original, this time, if minus the vampire state...Not a slick  
descendant imitator...

"If you and the lady..." she smiled at Elisabeth...Who was now rather engaged in conversation with  
the charming Gregory Ionescu... "Are sure that wacko boy and his mom are settled...We must be  
going..."  
Volgrode nodded...Having missed their time...And now being without the occult items...And their  
Slayer prisoners...Varina and Vladimir would be forced to abandon their overly romantic notions for  
helping preserve Romanian independence...

Perhaps he and Elisabeth could eventually persuade them back to a more sensible path following  
Vladimir's old and fairly sane notions of improving the nation's agriculture and industry...

If not, well...A Dr. Freud up in Vienna was doing wonderful things with the deranged these  
days...Not to mention a clinic in Ohio, America doing likewise with brain surgery...

Hmmn...Well...At least the ole Impaler wasn't suggesting a session in the ole family dungeon/torture  
chamber...she thought...

"Perhaps Mr. Ionescu would agree to assist you..." Professor Fate-Walthrop smiled at her friend...

So...My new friend Mr. Ionescu had an ulterior motive in coming along with me, Buffy-Millie  
thought, with a grin...Noting Elisabeth's clear interest...

The ole family retainer was obviously a bit more than that to one of the Dracule at least...

"He is quite a resourceful fellow..." she grinned at Elisabeth...Who beamed at him...

Nice folks, all in all...Hmmn...Still, young Vlady is right...There is danger approaching from the big  
powers, God damn 'em...God what did happen to Romania in WWI?...Buffy-Millie wondered  
quickly...Wish Buffy had studied more history...

Oh, well...Years off...Besides, alternate universe, doesn't have to happen the same way...

Hmmn...Years...1914...She looked at Max...Gulp...

Gee...He'll only be thirty eight...She looked over to LeGrand...Him too...Young enough as the war  
goes on and all those poor boys get mown down in the most senseless big war in history...

And William still holds British as well as American citizenship...

Great...Just another statistic at any one of the mass slaughter battles...

We do pass through Serbia and Austria...Maybe I should look up that Archduke guy...

No, remember what Ben said...History is best left to sort itself out...Especially in an alternate  
universe...

Oh...William...

Well...If the war comes off...If he goes...If I can't break his leg or arm accidently or something...I'll  
go too...

Buffy-Millie the retired Slayer...Professor of Physics...And Red Cross nurse...

Wonder if I could invent bulletproof body suits by then?...

"Professor...? Mr. Walthrop?...My most heartfelt thanks...Personally...For the Dracule...And for our  
country..." Volgrode formally bowed to them...Elisabeth turning to them as well...

"However your race turns out...May your journey will be fruitful and joyous..." the old Count  
bowed again...

They nodded...

Elisabeth and Gregory coming over to shake hands...The Professor left a final greeting for Gregory's  
little daughter...Daughter? Elisabeth's face fell a moment...Widower...Buffy-Millie noted...Eyeing  
her friend with a grin...

And the Walthrops headed for the cart in which Miss DuBois had been brought...

Bos...oss...Hezekiah tapped his employer on the shoulder as Angel chaffed Miss DuBois' wrists and  
applied a cool cloth...

"The Perfesser's vamoosing..."

"Oh...Leave her for now...It'll take them a good hour or two to get back to their car..."

Madeleine...he returned to his patient...

Oh brother...Hezekiah rolled his eyes...

Mr. Hercule is gonna hit the roof on this...Even before he gets a look at her...

Still...The lady is quite a lady...Wouldn't of minded puttin' a few holes in that slick Dracula kid  
meself...

"Ummn...?...Mr. LeGrand?..." Miss DuBois eyed him...Blinking...

Oh!...She pointed at the departing Walthrops...

"Professor Fate!...We should get moving..." she tried to stand and fell back...

"Later...Madeleine...Just rest for now..." Angel told her...

Madeleine...? she stared at him...Sinking gratefully back into her seat...

Forthrightness has its limitations...

Even in a potential Slayer...

A lawsuit?...Hercule LeGrand stared at his nervous agent...At the Paris offices of the LeGrand  
Motor Works...

Just the thing to ruin his breakfast...And the good news that the Walthrops had been detected in  
Romania...At the same country estate where his idiot son had been having repairs completed...

The race was still neck-and-neck...

But this...A lawsuit against the company?...And him personally?...As well as the dolt of a son...?

Filed by the New York Sentinel newspaper's legal division?...

The agent nodded sheepishly...

Over irregularities in the company's obtaining of certain valuable patents...?

Hercule glared at his little agent...

Buffoon...To bring him news like this?...At a critical time like this?...

A matter that should have been tended to already by his staff in New York...What did he pay them  
for, anyway?...Remind me...he glared at the little staffer...

"File a countersuit...Immediately...Our best legal men on it..."

And see that mention is discreetly made regarding Mrs. Harris'...Background...

To remind the judge involved and his political advisors/friends of the real issues at stake...

The growing menace threatening The Nation...

The...Alien, UnAmerican, Non-Christian, UnGodly...menace...And remember to bring up the subject  
of Mrs. Harris...

Have the Harrises' backgrounds checked in detail...She's already a dangerous radical...A dangerous  
Alien, UnAmerican, Non-Christian, UnGodly radical...Work from that...Anything you can dig up...

Yes, sir...

"And have someone in our "special" department see that said judge and friends are  
properly..."Rewarded" for holding the correct views on the matter..."

Yes, sir...

And?...LeGrand elder eyed the agent...

Uh?...Sir?...

Must I do everything myself?...Hercule wondered aloud...

"Find out how the Sentinel got this information...By all means necessary...Apply any necessary  
pressure to halt any future efforts along these lines..."

God, man...Use your head...And tell the "special" department to use theirs...

He returned to his breakfast...And the more cheery news...

Now he knew where the Walthrops and his son were...

And so did his various posted agents along the remaining route...

***  
"Who is that guy?..." young Phil Walthrop pointed out the young fiercely staring man to his sister,  
Amelia...

"He's been staring at us for the past fifteen minutes..."

As they stood in the center of a plaza in the heart of delightful Vienna...Austria-Hungary's primary  
capital...

Where they'd just arrived to await the now apparently delayed coming of Millie and Will...

Amelia shuddered...The same little guy who'd been following her around when she did some touring  
on her own yesterday...

Blue-eyed, dark-haired...Little seedy...Intense glaring stare...

Nearly as bad as Millie's when she was angry...

And now that friend of his...The one who'd seemed relatively normal and smiled a bit...Had  
apparently decided not to continue the pursuit...

Nope, wait...There he is...Rejoining weird boy...

Intense stare spoke to his friend...Who now eyed the Walthrops...

And started over...

"Er...Fraulein...Herr?...Englander?..." the pleasant-looking young man asked...

"Americans..." Phil replied curtly...Taking up a defensive position by Melia...

Ah...the Austrian smiled...  
"Walthrop...This is my brother Phil and I am Amelia..." Melia tried a little politeness...

The young man bowed slightly...His staring friend watching intently from a distance...

"My friend...Wished me to tell you...He did not mean to disturb you...He had noticed your...What is  
the word?...Sister?...Touring the city yesterday...And thought perhaps...We might suggest some  
sights you should not miss..."

"Don't need a guide, friend..." Phil noted...

"No, nein...We do not seek your money...My friend and I are tourists ourselves here in the city,  
planning to enter the University shortly...I in Architecture...He in Art...We simply thought two  
young English...Or Americans...Should not go from Vienna without seeing its best..."

Phil frowned...

Phil...Amelia hissed...Be nice...

"I am...August Kubizek..." the young man introduced himself...

"Adolf!..." he called back...

Glare boy came slowly over...

And this...Is my friend...Adolf Hitler...

"Wilkomen...ah...to Vienna..." Glare boy bowed...Coldly eyeing Phil...

***  
Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXXVII...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other  
owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural  
recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an  
alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So  
Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's  
another...  
-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further  
-Into the body of a young Physics studennt in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble  
dealing with Angel's counterpart...  
-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of courrse...

Part XXXVII...

***

On the road to Budapest...

Despite a little phony grousing at Max's foolhardiness in heading off to deal with young, human  
Count Dracula without her, Buffy-Millie Fate-Walthrop was plainly in high spirits...

William was safe, as were her children, extended family, and the world from an opening of the  
Hellgates...

The ole Slayer in her had had a chance to show off...

And they had a few hours lead over the Angel Special...

All as well with the world as could reasonably be expected...

Except...

Max still seemed a bit down...

Was he still obsessing over Angel?...Either Buffy's or this universe's Angel?...

Well...A leetle celebratory lovemaking was clearly overdue...Even if it meant risking their fragile  
lead...Besides...

Like LeGrand, Professor Fate disliked the concept of winning too easily...

Though in a pinch...She could deal...

***

Amelia having insisted on following the path of politeness, (as representatives of their Nation  
abroad, she noted) she and Phil were the reluctant guests of young Austrian students August  
Kubizek and Adolf Hitler on a tour of old Vienna's major architectural wonders...

The rather oddballish, glaring Hitler clearly smitten with her...Staring at her in pauses from his  
ranting on the superiority of Germanic culture...

Which the patient Kubizek translated in full...  
Though he was interested in putting a few questions to Phil...Who was barely maintaining his  
temper under his sis' intense glare...

Had he slaughtered many of the degenerate Red Indians on the great American prairie?...Adolf  
wondered, being a great fan of the German fiction writer of the old West, Karl May and his  
murderously insane German-American hero, Old Shatterhand...

Not many...Phil noted...

Coming from New England as he did...Lucky enough to be born there shortly after his mum's and  
Will's migration from England...

However, living out in Indiana now...

Inderana? Hitler asked via August with enthusiasm...

Der land of der Indians?...

Till it was stolen from 'em...Phil nodded...

The conqueror need have no regrets over the methods used...Hitler insisted...

His victories prove him the superior being...

So...Phil eyed the little ranting Austrian...

Prussians and Germans were rolled over by Napoleon...Does that mean?...

An explosion of rage issued forth...

Degenerate France...German triumph in 1870...The Reich formed on the field of blood, etc...

Yeah... noted Phil...In a bad year...With that third-rate imitation Napoleon in command of France's  
armies...They finally managed to win one over the French...

One...he grinned...Amelia frowning at him...

Don't get the little nut upset...

Hitler took her glare as affectionate support for him and for her sake...Not to mention noting Phil  
seemed rather well-built...Switched back to his reverent description of the building before them...

The great Vienna Opera House...

***

"You want to stop for the night...Now?..." Max looked at Buffy-Millie...  
It's only 4pm...We've nearly three good driving hours left...We only have a six hour lead at best...

"So...We'll leave extra early tomorrow..." she noted...

But...

"We can use the time to check over the car a little..." she pointed out...

And...she grinned...

See a sunset together in the Carpathian foothills...Last chance before we hit the Hungarian plain...

And...she paused...

Pitch a little woo...Maybe?...

Still got the saloon dress from Boracho, you know...she smiled...

***  
Chadwick, "special" agent of LeGrand Motor Works waited with his men, local Serbian nationalists  
offered financial backing to their cause...A greater Serbia...For their assistance...In a treacherous  
stretch of mountain passes on the road to Budapest...

The one road supplied with gasoline depots...And therefore unavoidable for the Walthrops...

He'd chosen the area with care...A Roman army had been trapped in this pass and then slaughtered  
here, centuries ago...Its leader, the Emperor himself, having his skullcap turned into a drinking  
goblet by the victorious barbarian commander...

A perfect place for Professor Fate to meet her end...In a way perfectly acceptable to the authorities...

An avalanche...Triggered at this time of year by almost anything...

Certainly the blasting being done in the area...By his men, checking the area for valuable mineral  
deposits...With of course no idea that a group of automobile racers was coming down the road at just  
the time their next series of tests was to be conducted...Was as likely as anything else to do it...

***

"I still don't understand what that young maniac wanted my blood for..." Miss DuBois shook her  
head as the Angel Special raced along the mountain road, leaving Transylvania at last...

Aristocrats...Hezekiah noted, grumblingly...

All nuts...

Comes from the inbreeding...Like with dogs...he noted...  
Best not to think about it...Angel noted...These Eastern Europeans have strange ways beyond our  
understanding...

Hmmn...she nodded...And not a story Mr. and Mrs. Harris will likely find appealing for my  
readers...Ah well...Just have to end our stay at the Draculas' with the evening celebrations at the  
estate...No need to cause the old count and dear Elisabeth any unnecessary grief after all...

That's very kind of you, Miss DuBois...Angel replied...

I also can't believe what Professor Fate did back there...Miss DuBois continued...

"She seemed to know exactly how to handle him...Amazing..."

Yes...Angel replied...Curtly...

But of course we can't know how Millie was mixed up in this...he noted darkly...

The whole thing could have been her idea...

"She came back to help us...Or at least to stop Vladimir..." Miss DuBois pointed out...

Yes...I suppose so...Angel nodded...

Curtly...

But then Millie is a woman with some unusual associations...Probably knew of young Dracula and  
his demented schemes from her more bizarre researches...

Well...Miss DuBois eyed the fast passing scenery...For whatever reason...She did come...

"As you came to help me...Mr. LeGrand..." she cast a smile at him...

"I'm just glad you're alright now...Madeleine..." Angel smiled at her briefly...

Just fine...she smiled back...

Oh, brother...Hezekiah groaned inwardly...

***  
The group of young people looked down from the great balcony onto the main stage of the house...A  
kind attendant having allowed them a brief look...

"Miss...Amelia..." August paused, looking briefly back at his friend...

Adolf wants to know...Who is your favorite composer?...

Oh...She eyed young Hitler...Waiting expectantly...  
"Well...Mozart...Beethoven...Mendelssohn...And that Mr. Dvorak is very good..."

Hitler stared...Dvorak?...

Mendelssohn?...

Oh-oh...August sighed...

Adolf...he thought...You really have to broaden your horizons...

I like Mendelssohn myself...he thought...

"We have some good composers back in America just getting started too..." she noted...

"There's this black composer...Joplin...He has a whole new type of music...It's really..."

Adolf blinked at the beauteous...Nordic...American girl who'd captured his heart...

Turning to August...Blac?...Does she mean...? he asked his friend in rapid-fire German...

***

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXXVIII...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other  
owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural  
recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an  
alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So  
Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's  
another...

-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further  
-Into the body of a young Physics studennt in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble  
dealing with Angel's counterpart...  
-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of courrse...

Part XXXVIII...

***  
Well...Thought Max...As he waited, writing letters to the family, in the room of the little Bosnian inn  
he and Buffy-Millie had chosen for their night's stopover...

His Professor having gone to use what passed for the "facilities" before they engaged in some pre?  
dinner activity...

We've risked our lives and our children's future throughout this crazy race on one ridiculous thing  
or another...Why not risk our slim lead for a little hanky-panky?...

She entered, discretely attired in coat and hat...Which she immediately removed to reveal...

Her saloon dress...

Whoa...

"You like it?..." she twirled around, smiling archly...

Oh...Yeah...she happily noted to herself...He like..

Definitely worth the risk, Max thought...

Indubitably...

***

On the cliffs above the treacherous pass where they awaited Professor Fate, the young Serbian  
nationalists eyed Chadwick, heavyset, walrus-mustached Englishman...A key confidential  
European agent of Le Grand Motor Works and Machinery Corporation...Who nervously looked up  
the road...

The night shadows were creeping up...

"Our quarry must have stopped for the night..." he sighed, shaking his head...

Thought for sure they'd press right on through this pass before dark...

"Have your men had any indications that the Walthrops have taken a route around us?..." he turned  
to the young leader of his allies...One Princep...Who shrugged...No one has reported anything...And  
this is the only road with gasoline available, the man noted...

"Well..." Chadwick kicked a rock in frustration...Which fell down the cliff...Setting off one of the  
planted sticks of dynamite with a roar...

The men dashed for cover from the falling rocks...Fortunately it was only one stick and did not set  
off the others...Most of the cliff face of the pass was little disturbed...

Well...At least now it really would seem more like an accident...he apologetically noted to Princep...

Moronic Englishman...the Serbian rolled his eyes...

Well...All for the cause of our "Black Hand" group and our greater Serbia...And he did pay the half  
his superiors had promised...

"Have your scouts double check for Professor Fate on the other road, Princep, and report back to me  
at my inn...If she's still coming this way, we'll give it another go tomorrow..." Chadwick clapped  
the young man on the back and dismissed the others for the evening...

***  
Although Phil Walthrop had grown rather weary of young Adolf Hitler's ranting diatribes on  
German moral, physical, and cultural superiority...Even with the filtering effect of his much put?  
upon friend poor August Kubizek's attempts to moderate his tone in translation...He was aware of  
his sister's...Not to mention his own...Guilty nervousness at their mission in Vienna...

To do what they could to stop or delay Millie and Will on their way to Rome and finally, Paris...At  
the insistence of Hercule LeGrand, Angel's ruthless father...Who had a strong hold over them,  
having persuaded them to interfere with Professor Fate's past attempts to trump his son...In the  
interests of breaking her obsession with him...An obsession they feared was likely to ruin both her  
career in Science and her marriage to their beloved brother...

So, as Amelia seemed to appreciate the distraction of touring Vienna with the little maniac and his  
rather agreeable friend, he tried to be accommodating...

Though he couldn't resist tweaking the strange little would-be art student's rather large nose...

Pointing out that he, Hitler himself was first of all...An Austrian...In an empire of rather mixed  
nationalities...And second...He was hardly the blonde, Norse god type himself...

Besides...If Amelia hadn't pressed him to ignore it, he'd have socked the little...when he'd raged a  
bit at her for her praise of black and Jewish...Mendelssohn was German-born, you're not, Phil had  
not been able to resist noting...composers...

For his part, August had been rather surprised by Adolf's reaction...A brief burst of rage, then a  
genuine attempt to control himself, even followed by a mildly nasty, rather lame attempt at a joke  
about women's lack of sense...None of the usual wild screaming and storming off...

He really likes this girl, Kubizek noted to himself...

But then, he glanced shyly again at Amelia...She was quite a beauty...

***  
"Is this really such a good idea, Mr. LeGrand?...On these roads?..." Miss DuBois looked nervously  
at the road ahead...

To press on an extra four or five hours in the dark?...With only the faint light from the Angel  
Special's headlights to guide them?...

She eyed Hezekiah...Who did not seem very pleased himself...

Still...She was an intrepid and forthright young woman...And it would make a fascinating  
installment for the Sentinel's readers...

"I feel we must, Made...Miss DuBois..." Angel hastily corrected himself...

The Professor has the lead but with a little extra effort tonight, we can make it up...

"Hezekiah and I can drive in shifts...If you would be willing to act as road observer for my shift..."  
he paused...

Hezekiah could sleep a bit and then I can observe for him...

"You haven't slept for two days, An...Mr. LeGrand..." she hastily corrected...

Perhaps I could drive the first shift...

Hezekiah rolled his eyes, frowning...Drive the Angel Special?...My precious girl?...

"No...Much as I would trust your driving ability...It would be a violation of the racing compact, my  
dear..." Angel noted...

As you are not an official member of our team...

"However...Madeleine..." he smiled at her...

Thank you for the offer...

She nodded, unable to repress a bit of a beam...Damn those flashing eyes, she thought...

"Well...Then...Hezekiah?...If you would be so good as to take the back seat?" she smiled at him...A  
rather puckish grin on her face...

Oh Jesus...Hezekiah shook his head as Angel stopped the car and he got out of the passenger side...

"Shall we, Mr. LeGrand?..." Miss DuBois gave a definite beam at her companion...

We shall, Miss DuBois...Angel flashed a delighted smile back...As they moved on into the darkening  
evening light...

On the major Bosnian roadway...A relatively good excuse for a cowpath in most areas, with broken  
stretches of uprooted Roman cobblestone and crumbling mountain paths in others...

***

Young Hitler had suggested dinner at a local and reasonably priced tavern catering to students from  
the University...

Speaking of the University, Adolf...August noted mildly...We ought to get to work seeing a few of  
the professors and administrative people tomorrow to inquire about our applications...

"We're just a couple of fellows from a country town, really...We'll need a lot of effort to get in..." he  
explained to Amelia...

Although our schooling was adequate...

The Empire provides good schools even for the less well-To-do, I will say that...August went on...

Hitler erupted a bit...August having continued a running translation...

"The schools of the Empire are crawling with degenerates, bourgeois..."

Their goal...Mongrelization of the German...

"I don't want to hear any more of that..." Amelia cut in firmly...

To August's shock, Adolf once again backed down...Even more pleasantly this time...

"Forgive me...Such political talk is not for the ears of a beautiful and delicate lady..."

"I'll listen to political talk any day of the week, Mr. Hitler..." Amelia noted via August...

But not to that kind of talk...

"Naturally a lady hates to hear harsh realities..." Adolf replied...Pausing for August's translation...

Amelia frowned...

Hitler continued with a smile...A surprisingly charming one...

Therefore...Let me ask...How have you enjoyed our day in Vienna?...

"It's a beautiful city...Thanks to all of its people..." she replied...

A middle-Aged couple entered the tavern with their daughter...A lovely young girl, a tall,  
distinguished-looking man, still-Attractive wife...A rather familiar-looking man, Amelia noted to  
herself...

"I think that's...Dr. Freud..." August noted in surprise...

***  
Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XXXVIII...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other  
owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural  
recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an  
alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So  
Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's  
another...

-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further  
-Into the body of a young Physics studennt in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble  
dealing with Angel's counterpart...  
-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of courrse...

Part XXXIX...

Amelia craned her head to look at the famous Dr. Sigmund Freud...And family...

A man whose work was so widely talked over...In quiet, secluded, adults-only settings, of  
course...That even if her sis-In-law Professor Millie Fate had not praised it, she would have heard of  
it...

In whispers of course...With strong references to forbidden subjects and grim warnings to never  
mention the man in polite society...Even as everyone over 18...Hell, over 14 as their dear Millie,  
grinningly would note, eyeing them...Tried desperately to get their hands on his writings...

The forbidden fruit of 1906...

"Freud?..." Phil looked as well...As did August again, more timidly...

Adolf looking firmly away...Refusing to make any acknowledgment of the degenerate...

"The guy who talks about sex all the time...?" Phil grinned...

Philip!...Amelia groused...

"That's no way to talk!...Do you want me to leave right now?..."

Adolf perked up a bit, as August made the translation...

If the young lady was seriously considering stalking out...Offended by such vile talk as such a gentle  
and delicate flower must be...Perhaps she might allow him to...

"Dr. Freud studies the human mind, Phil..." Amelia continued...

And Millie would be disgusted with you for a remark like that...So would Will...

"At least in public..." she finished, with a faint smile...Professor Millie having a somewhat risque  
side in private conversation...Though fully cognizant of the proprieties in public...

"Ok...O...K..." he grimaced...

Enough...

"A little consideration, Phil...Geesch...We're not home you know..."

Do Americans discuss Freud's work in their homes...? August and Adolf wondered...

"Anyway..." she turned to August...

"Do you follow Dr. Freud's work?..."

"Well..." he smiled shyly back...

"The study of the ways of the human mind is a fascin..."

"Hound!...Filth-monger!..." Adolf hissed in German, just loud enough to be heard at other tables...

A clear example of the degenerate Jewish...

"That's enough, Mr. Hitler!..." Amelia hissed back...

I have many Jewish friends and I don't like your "degenerate" remarks...

Dr. Freud's a genius...And if you're just jealous of a few successful people...

Adolf waited a second for translation...August nervously trying to moderate Amelia's remarks...

"You have been poorly raised...Understandable in such a mongrel state as America..." Hitler noted...  
Ok...That's it...Phil got up abruptly, throwing some money down on the table...

Dr. Freud, along with a few others, watched curiously from several tables...

Interesting young man...he noted to his daughter Anna, eyeing young Hitler...

Quite the little fanatic...

"Melia...Lets go...Before I hit this little freak..."

She got up...Sorry, she turned to August...

But your friend is just not someone we choose to hang...(A Buffy-Millie-borrowed  
expression)...With...

He sighed, nodding...Nothing new, really...

Though Adolf had been controlling himself a little better than usual...

Hang?...Now that expression was something new...But then, America...They hang people all the  
time...August noted to himself...Rising a little sadly...

A furious Hitler, but also an almost despairing one, eyed the Walthrops...Rising as well...

And committed an act which future historians would have given their eyeteeth to be present for...

"I..." he choked out in halting English...

"Apologize...Bitte...Please..."

And put out a hand...

Phil eyed him...

Amelia eyed Phil...Well...

He sighed...Fair enough...and took Adolf's hand for an instant...

"We should get going anyway..." Amelia noted...

It's late and we have things to do tomorrow...

"I also apologize..." August bowed slightly...

Amelia smiled and shook her head slightly...No need...

Adolf catching August's faint smile...Hmmn...  
Well, in any case...August paused...

May we make amends by seeing you both back to your hotel...?

***

Much to Hercule LeGrand's annoyed surprise as he gazed over the various papers on his desk from  
his Paris office window to the Eiffel Tower...The finish point for the Great Around the World  
Race...His campaign against the Harrises' legal action was not having quite the success he'd  
anticipated...

The Harrises' Sentinel having long been a prominent supporter of President Teddy Roosevelt, the  
current Governor, Mayor, and Police Commissioner of New York, much of the State legislature,  
and, despite its crusade for reform, reasonably friendly with many leading figures of Tammany  
Hall...It was not so easy to drum up the necessary support...

At least in public...

And there were even charges of anti-Semitism leveled against some of his people's public  
statements...Though he himself was careful to avoid such dangerous ground...

Just possible his fool son would need the support of various ethnic and religious groups one day if he  
carried out his notion of entering politics...

Behind the scenes however he'd had a bit more success with the judiciary...

Tying up the action in the courts and bringing the full power of his legal staff to bear...

But it worried him...And if the race were lost and his company discredited to Professor Fate's  
favor...The charges might resurface, with redoubled strength...His competitors sensing a wounded  
beast and closing for the kill...

He could just see that grinning bastard Ford gloating...Portraying himself as a fair-minded leader of  
the new automotive world...Shocked...Absolutely shocked...By LeGrand's ruthless theft of another's  
patents...A defenseless little woman's patents...

Not to mention being distressed by some of those "statements" from LeGrand's people about Mrs.  
Harris...

Right...Like that crazed beanpole of a Midwestern yahoo wasn't the Nation's most prominent anti?  
Semite...

It was now more crucial than ever that the race be won...This "legal action" by Professor Fate's dear  
friends would be lost in the shouts of acclaim for his boy and the LeGrand Motor Works that had  
produced his victorious car...

If the race were won...As it would be, he assured himself...  
By whatever means necessary...

***

"Ah, Bosnia...Land of ancient conflict..." Angel reflected to his companion...The beautiful and  
intrepid Miss DuBois...As they sped along the dark road...If one could call it a road...

Wish it were a land of streetlights...she noted...Peering into the dark nervously...

They were reaching some mountainous terrain...Crumbly mountainous terrain...

Well, Angel pointed out...At least there being only one road to speak of, there was little chance of  
getting lost...

Just of having the side of the mountain road facing the cliff crumble away...Miss DuBois thought as  
they rose up the narrow mountain road...Path really...

"You know...We're nearing the site of quite a few famous battlegrounds..." he noted...

About two hours from us for example, is where a Roman army was trapped in the passes and utterly  
destroyed...

"And the Emperor Nicephorus was turned into a drinking cup by the Khan who'd defeated him?..."  
she smiled...

Uh...Yes...he replied...

I do read history, Mr. LeGrand...

She relented a bit...He'd only been trying to make conversation...And, to be honest...And  
forthright...It was only her fear making her a bit cranky...

"But it is a fascinating place..." she nodded...

I'm sure my readers will want all the details of the places we encounter...

Preferably in the daylight...she added...Hopefully...

About a mile further along, they spied a torch in the woods near the road...Glad for the sign of  
human habitation...

Unfortunately...It was one of Princep's scouts...Who mistakenly reported them as the Great Racer  
they had been awaiting up ahead...

Cleverly and bravely, if insanely, pushing on through the dark...

Princep, dutifully informed Chadwick at his inn just after eleven-Thirty...A rather reluctant  
Chadwick agreeing that they should take up their positions in the pass...

Just like that dratted female Professor to drive through the worst country in the world in the middle  
of the night...the special operative of LeGrand Motors noted to himself, rather peeved...

Well, this way it would look even more like an accident ...

***

Midway between the Angel Special now somewhat more cautiously making its way up the battered  
mountain road and Chadwick's men in the ancient pass...Professor Fate-Walthrop and her husband,  
the much-beloved, if occasionally taken for granted, William Maximilian Walthrop...Were engaged  
in scientific experimentation at the little inn they'd sensibly stopped at long before darkness fell...

Scientific experimentation of a kind...

Not to be repeated until the mid-Twentieth century work of Masters and Johnson...

"Now try..." Buffy-Millie gasped for breath... "A little...Lower..."

Uh-huh...William whispered...

There...?

Lower...Oh...Yeah...

Beautiful...Yeah...Just be...au...ti...ful...Oh...Yeah...

"Lets try that with a hot towel..." she eyed him as he pulled back from her, smiling...If a  
bit...Winded...

If you're ok?...

Fine, fine...

"And you're...Happy?...Maxy...?" she asked, a little anxiously...

Oh yeah...he smiled at her...

"Especially when I see my ex-Slayer girl happy..."

So happy...she grinned back...

But if you're getting tired...?

"Oh, no...Just catching my second wind..." Max nodded at her...  
What a foolish world we live in, he thought...Thank God...

Where a moron like LeGrand would pass up a Millie on account of a few buck-Teeth...

Of course...she noted...This could be useful for the disabled, you know...And the dysfunctional...

"If you really don't mind my keeping a record?..."

Just don't ever show it to the children...Until we've passed on...he noted...

After that I'd want them to know just what a goddess their mother was...

"William Maximilian..."she nearly crushed him in her arms, even without the ole Buffy super?  
strength...

God bless the night Angel left me at the dorm with you...she noted...

Ummn...she hastily reached for a better way to put it...

You know what I mean...she eyed him hopefully...

"Yeah..." he nodded...And hesitated...

Buffy...he began...

Oooh...Always the best when he calls me Buffy...she thought happily...

"Would you tell me...About Angel?..."

Angel?...she eyed him...

Angel...he eyed her...

And you know which Angel I mean...

"You can throw in a little about my counterpart...Spike...As long as you're covering this ground..."

Ummn...Well...

"Spike...William..." she noted...

His human soul is also William...

Uh-huh...

And as to Angel?...he looked at her...

Well...she smiled up at him...Rather nervously...

See...When he first came to Sunnydale...Years ago...

"Or...Years from now, from our pov..." she corrected...

I was very...Lonely...And weighed down by my Slaying...And fighting that vamp king who called  
himself "the Master..."

"And...Well..."

All might have ended well at the Vienna tavern where Amelia and Philip Walthrop were finishing  
their dinner with a young Adolf Hitler and his friend the amiable and quite sane August Kubizek...

Despite the young Austrian's annoying tendency to rant violently from time to time at various  
groups of people not to his liking...And to occasionally drop a sneer at those nations which tolerated  
such groups...Or which sought to give power to the people of their nations via idiotic notions of  
democracy rather than to a divinely appointed leader...He did have a certain charm of manner, at  
least in his genuine enthusiasm for the architecture and history of the great city...

Unfortunately...As they rose to stroll back to the Walthrops' hotel...He came into direct eye contact  
with the distinguished Dr. Sigmund Freud...Who'd been watching him discreetly from his table  
where he sat with his family...

***

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XL...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other  
owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural  
recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an  
alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So  
Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's  
another...

-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further  
-Into the body of a young Physics studennt in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble  
dealing with Angel's counterpart...  
-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of courrse...

Part XL...

Lying next to her Max on the inn bed, Buffy-Millie continued the story of her alternate existence self  
and her relationship with that universe's Angel to what she stressed as its conclusion...With emphasis  
on her blossoming feelings for the William Soames Walthrop of that universe...

Who has his own Buffy reborn or about to be reborn for him, Max noted quietly...

Well...Yeah...But...Original Buffy has learned she loves him too...That the love Buffy Rebecca feels  
for that Will's poor remnant soul comes from her...Buffy-Millie noted...

And, in the final analysis...It doesn't concern us...she added hastily...

Not...Now...William Maximilian sighed...

Nervous as she was feeling as her husband lay quietly beside her, Buffy-Millie couldn't help a little  
joy creeping in...

Her boy, thinking on Eternity...Concerned of any possibility that they might be separated in the  
afterlife...

This is one hooked lover/husband/friend...

And me with these buck teeth and my weak chin...

Neat...

"I only want to be with you, Will...And our little guys..." Buffy-Millie rolled over to him...

And accomplish something wonderful in Science...If the Fates allow...

Whatever happens to Buffy Anne or Buffy Rebecca Summers, (Buffy) Millicent Kristine  
Fate-Walthrop is settled...

"But..." he interrupted her, and paused...

You have one foot in that other world...

I don't...I have no connection to it or memory of that other William...he noted...

And who knows what or where you may be in the end...

"I'll fight to stay with you...Always..." she insisted...

And the Buffy of that other world is not me...Not anymore...

"Besides...I told you...She's in love with her Will too..."

Even if she couldn't admit it to herself until her twin appeared...

"Have a little faith in us, Will..." she pleaded...

"I want to..." he said, quietly...Turning to stare at her...

But I love you so much...The thought of losing you...Even in the afterlife...

Is just unbearable...

"Especially if it would be to some counterpart of that posturing twit..." he sighed...Smiling wanly at  
her...

"Unless of course...I fall madly in love with the human soul of that poor girl you told me  
about?...Spike's companion, Drusilla..." he grinned...

I mean if that universe's Will is taken by your counterpart or her twin...Poor girl might be lonely...

She slapped him, grinning back...And rolling on top of him...Hair falling over his chest...

However...

Drusilla?...she thought...

Didn't old Dracula tell us she was his reincarnated former wife?...Alive in England?...Now?...

And never mentioned if she was married or seeing anyone...

Hmmn...

"Max...? You know after the Race is over...Win or lose we oughta head straight back home from  
France..."

***

"We're making excellent time..." Le Grand noted to Miss DuBois as they came off the mountain  
road...Path, really...For a bit...

At last...The intrepid Miss DuBois sighed within...Level ground and the semblance of a real road...

They passed the small inn where Professor Fate and her Max were conducting their  
"experiments"...The Hannibal Super Twin?8 being well concealed in the inn's stable..

Ummn...Nice-looking inn...Miss DuBois brightly noted as they sped past...

Bad-looking road up ahead...she did not say...

"I think we should press on as planned...Hezekiah will take over for me in a bit..." Angel glanced at  
her a second...

Unless you prefer to stop...Madeleine?...he hesitated...

I realize that last stretch of road was a bit...Stressful...

Stressful...she moaned to herself...

All my nails are either broken from scratching into the car upholstery or bitten off...

However, one must show the proper spirit...Especially if one is an intrepid reporter...First of her  
race... for a major American newspaper...

"No, no...Just noticed it..." she shook her head...

Excellent...he smiled...

"I'm sure the rest of the way to our next gasoline drop will be much easier going..."

After we get through the Belgorda Pass, of course...

Of...Course...Miss DuBois sighed...

***  
Swine...Being the least offensive of the terms young Adolf Hitler had used in addressing the  
distinguished Dr. Sigmund Freud...After locking eyes with one of the Fathers...if not the Father...of  
Psychiatry...Amelia and Philip Walthrop had had enough of their little outing with the dementedly  
temperamental and rather rude little Austrian...

Though Amelia tried to remain polite for the sake of young August Kubizek, Hitler's rather likeable  
mild friend...

"That is enough, Herr Hitler!..." she told the ranting Adolf, risen from his seat to denounce the  
degenerate who'd dared to eye him with clearly professional interest...Philip moving between him  
and Dr. Freud and family's table where the psychiatrist was still observing the angry young man  
with a rather clinical air...

"Sir..." she looked over to Dr. Freud...Having risen herself...

"I apologize for our companion's remarks..." she said in reasonably good German...  
"He's rather ignorant, sadly prejudiced...And probably afraid you've seen something wrong with  
him..." she eyed the now frantic Adolf, August by his side attempting to drag him away...

It's nothing...Freud kindly replied, rising...As Philip lent August and the tavern keeper a hand in  
dragging Hitler off to the tavern entrance...

"A most interesting young man..." he nodded over at the young man now by the door, rather foaming  
at the mouth...

But potentially dangerous, Miss...he noted to Amelia...

"A personal friend?..." he asked with polite hesitancy...

"We've just met him...Toured the city together...Didn't realize how strange he was..." Amelia  
sighed...

Ah...Freud nodded...Well, then...

"I would recommend you terminate your acquaintance speedily...And refer the young man to a  
doctor...With some experience of mental illness..."

I would offer my services but I think he might do better with someone else...he smiled...

"I'm really very sorry..." Amelia sighed...As the tavern keeper showed young Adolf the door...

August and Phil following to see that the raging young man remained no threat to himself or  
others...

"It's nothing...But give him this card..." Freud reached into a vest...

A fine fellow, my friend Jung...A bit at odds with some of my ideas...But the young man may find  
him easier to deal with...

"You're very kind..." Amelia took the card, smiling wanly...And headed out...

Papa...Freud's young daughter and wife both eyed him sternly as he took his seat...

"Anna...Mama..." he smiled benignly...

"Jung deserves it..." Freud grinned...

***  
Outside, young Adolf had refocused his rage on his restrainers...To little avail, he not being a  
particularly challenging opponent, physically, under normal circumstances...

And in spite of his furious raging, he retaining a practical awareness of the size of his opponents,  
particularly the tavern keeper and young Phil Walthrop...

He shook back from them, as they released him...The tavern owner requesting that he never set foot  
in the place again, headed back inside...

August went to his friend who backed away from him in anger, glaring at Philip...as Amelia  
emerged...

"I guess that's that..." Phil nodded at August, ignoring the still glowering Hitler as Amelia came over  
to him...

We'll be saying good night...And good bye...he shook his head...

Adolf stalked off...August sighing as he watched him...

Well...Perhaps the walk will do him good...he noted ruefully...

"I am so sorry, Miss..." he eyed Amelia...

"Good-bye, August..." Amelia took the young man's hand briefly...

You're a nice fellow...Find a better friend...she whispered in his ear kindly, leaning over...

He smiled wanly...Shrugging...

"Adolf's had some rough times in his life..." he explained quietly, eyeing her...Hating to let the  
evening...And the moment with this beautiful American...A dream, really...End...

His father and he never got along...he noted sadly...

"Doesn't excuse his attitude..." Amelia began...As Adolf raced back out of the dark, and threw a rock  
at the back of Phil's head, striking him and knocking him down...

"Mongrel cur!..." he yelled, racing away...

"Adolf!..." August hurried over to Phil...Helping the stunned young man to his feet...

He's...Miss...? August turned back to Amelia and looked to see her racing down the street after  
young Hitler...

***  
"A car is coming...!" one of Princep's men carried the report, passed down the line of posts to Princep  
and Chadwick waiting on the heights of the pass...

First rate...Chadwick beamed...Patting Princep on the arm...

"Is everything ready for them?..." he eagerly asked...

Yes...Princep nodded...

"If you're quite sure we should proceed...?" he eyed the large Englishman...

Quite...Chadwick nodded...

"This will be the end of Professor Fate and her little games..."

"The car has entered the pass!..." Another running agent came up...

Well, Princep?...Chadwick turned to him...

"Have them set off the charges down at the end of the pass in five minutes...Wait until it's confirmed  
they've turned back, then the other end..." Princep told his telephone operator...

***  
Amelia slammed into young Adolf's back with the fury of a Slayer...Knocking him to the ground,  
she began pummeling him as he turned over...

August and Phil raced up, staring at the sight...

"Vicious...Little...Jackass!..." Amelia cried as she whacked and kicked away at the now sobbing and  
increasingly frightened young man...

Mama never told him about girls like this...

Phil lifted her off, as she struggled to land a few more blows...

August reluctantly lifting the battered Adolf to staggering feet...

"Well?...You...You..." Amelia searched her vocabulary...Rather limited for the purpose at  
hand...Proper young woman of 1906, after all...

Doofus...!...she remembered Phil's favorite Millie-bequeathed slang word...Breaking loose of her  
grinning brother's grip...And hollering at Hitler...Who chose the better part of valor and raced  
off...Again...

You want more!...You little creep!..." Amelia yelled and paused, breathing deep...Glaring after  
him...

The beaten and sobbing Hitler fled down the street...A reluctant Kubizek in pursuit...

Finally finding his friend in a doorway...Furious with rage...Ranting against the mongrel nation that  
had spawned such degenerates...As he wiped the blood and tears from his face...

Adolf...August sighed...

"If you keep on like this, you're going to hurt yourself or someone else some day..."

And you're not going to have any friends left...

***

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XLI...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other  
owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural  
recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an  
alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So  
Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's  
another...

-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further  
-Into the body of a young Physics studennt in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble  
dealing with Angel's counterpart...  
-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of courrse...

Part XLI...

Just after midnight, the mountains of the Belgorda Pass were rocked by a loud explosion coming  
from the northwestern entrance of the pass...From charges set by Bosnian Serb members of the  
"Black Hand" organization in the pay of one Chadwick, European agent of Hercule Le Grand's  
"special operations" division...

Chadwick, waiting far down the pass, safely on the heights with Princep, leader of his Serb agents,  
eagerly scanned the road with a small telescope...If all had gone well, Professor Fate's Hannibal  
Super Twin 8 should be returning down the pass, unable to press on...And it would be time for the  
second explosion to seal them in the pass...Causing a fatal delay at least...Killing the Walthrops if  
fortune smiled...

Princep awaited news from his men scattered up the pass that they had spotted the car  
returning...And that the second series of explosions was in progress...

"Good God!..." Chadwick slammed the telescope down in anger...And not a little fear...

"What is it?..." Princep regarded the rather excitable Englishman...

"You fools!..." Chadwick whirled on him...

"Look!..." he cried...Thrusting the telescope on Princep...Who frowned at him but scanned the  
road...

A car gleamed in the night...A white car...

"Your men were supposed to be competent, Princep!...Did I or didn't I tell you the Fate-Walthrops  
drove a black car!..."

Was that too difficult a thing to keep straight?...the large Englishman fumed...

"You agreed it must be the Walthrops coming on..." Princep noted...Turning to his operator, he  
hurriedly ordered a halt on the second explosion...

"Don't put this on me, you fool...!" Chadwick glared...Waving his arms at the young Serb...

Princep eyed the Englishman, considering having his body hurled from the cliff...However, there  
was still the matter of full payment...

And his men had at least made a foolish mistake in identifying the car...Though most had little  
experience with the damned things anyway...Lucky to have recognized any car, especially at night...

"The Walthrops cannot have gone through the pass, that much is certain..." the young man pointed  
out...

If your Racer is halted, they are as well...And their lead lost...

"Yes, yes..." Chadwick sighed...Calming a bit...

Especially having noted Princep's men moving to their leader's assistance as he raged at him...And  
gradually coming to the realization that he was alone, surrounded by several dozen very tough men  
well-schooled in killing...

Perhaps...he noted...There is a bright side to this...If we can assist Le Grand in reaching the main  
road first...

Princep nodded...His men dropping back a bit...

"I've no doubt he'll go back to Sesia, the nearest village..." Princep told his employer...

He'll put in at the inn there and wait for the dawn...

"Is there any way to get him around the pass...Quickly?"

Princep shook his head...

A two hundred mile detour over trackless hills, valleys, and rather treacherous rivers...If he avoids  
the impassable mountains...he explained...

Days of travel at the best pace he could hope to make...

"I'll have my men see what conditions are in the pass at first light..." he told the Englishman...

If it can be cleared, we can make contact...Let Le Grand know to wait...

If not...We can find the best route for him...

"Leave the contact to me..." Chadwick told him...

It's important that no one learn of our role here...I'll simply be acting as his father's agent, sent to  
assist him after this unfortunate accident...

"Yes..." Chadwick nodded, brightening...

As long as no damage was done...And Professor Fate halted as well...We can claim a partial success,  
at least if we get the boy out of this...

And it's likely the Walthrops will appear shortly...Princep noted encouragingly...

My men will keep watch but they've probably stopped for the night...A sensible course all things  
considered...

"We may yet have a chance to deal with them tomorrow..." he concluded...

Well...Rome wasn't built in a day...Chadwick sighed, nodding...

"I've always admired that level-headed temperament of you English..." Princep smiled as they  
started back to their horses...

Signaling his men that all was well...No need to cut the fat fool of an English walrus' throat just  
yet...

Below in the pass, the events of the past half-hour had gone off with a bit more excitement...

Midway through the pass, as she struggled to keep awake and alert to anything in the route  
ahead...Miss DuBois had been startled by the sudden realization that for the second time, Angel Le  
Grand had called her...Madeleine...

While Le Grand was happily describing the economy and politics of this little semi-Independent  
land...Under a degree of Austrian Imperial control...But greedily eyed by both the Austrian Empire  
and the new Serbian nation...

A loud blast reverberated back to them from up ahead, shaking the whole pass...Followed by an  
ominous rumble...Which steadily increased in intensity...

Angel halted the car suddenly...Hezekiah, in the back, jerked awake...

"Boss!"

An explosion or something up ahead, Angel noted to him...

And sounds like...

"Avalanche...!" Miss DuBois cried...Seeing some of the heights ahead of them fall into the road...

Tremors from the blast and the first avalanche at the upper end of the pass were sending shock  
waves back down...Triggering smaller rockfalls all down the way...

Hmmn...Angel regarded the crumbling cliffs ahead of them...Perhaps best to withdraw a bit...he  
noted...

"We gotta head back, Boss!..." Hezekiah called...Seeing more rubble tumble in front of them...And  
a few rocks falling in their rear...

Yes...Angel sighed...It seems we must...Drat the luck...He hesitated, eyeing the road ahead...

I think we'd better go, Mr. Le Grand...Miss DuBois suggested...

He nodded and turned the car around, as more rocks began falling directly in front of them, behind  
them and, several small ones, on top of them...

Remarkably, the car taking few if any dents...A tribute to Le Grand Motors' design and  
metallurgy...Angel noted as they sped back...

Wish we had some of that metallurgy above our heads, Miss DuBois thought...

Best if you got down under the dashboard, Miss DuBois...Angel glanced at her as several stones  
landed on the car door, windshield, and on the seat between them...

"I am quite..." she began, in an irritated voice...Just as a small stone struck her back, knocking the  
wind out of her...

"...All right..." she continued...From under the dashboard...

***  
Despite the late hour, the innkeeper at Sesia was happy to welcome Le Grand and his party...The  
second foreign visitors of the day he noted...

***

Much to the Harrises' surprise, their "inside man" at Le Grand Motor Works, new ace investigative  
reporter Warren Mears, had rather eagerly agreed to continue in his job at the factory to gather more  
info on the doings of the nefarious Hercule Le Grand...Particularly in regard to their dear Millie  
Fate-Walthrop...

Who'd of thought the little fellow would have so much spunk?...Willow grinned to Alex as they  
awaited their agent's next communication at the Sentinel offices...

It's the excitement...Rather like morphia for those pitiful wretches in the sanatorium we did that  
story on last month...Alex noted...

Especially for a fellow like Mears...For whom excitement has not been a major component of life up  
to now...

And a damned good thing for the Sentinel...he eyed her...

What with Le Grand's legal team doing its level best to counter our charges and hit us with a  
series of lawsuits and countersuits...This paper needs all the evidence we can get...

Well...Willow sighed...

Hopefully Mears' finely tuned instinct for self-preservation would preserve him...

At least until he managed to get more incriminating information on the Le Grands out to them...

"By the way...Has anything come in from Miss DuBois?..." she asked...

Not since that last from Transylvania...Alex replied...

Odd thing that last report, he noted...Got the impression she was holding part of the story back  
somehow...A little too much emphasis on the colorful folk dancers and the dutiful estate farmers on  
the Estate Dracula for her style...

Yes...Willow agreed...Nice, but a leetle disappointing somehow...Given the place and family and  
all...

Pity the famed fictional vampire couldn't have made an appearance...

***

The next morning at their hotel in Vienna found Amelia and Philip in rather depressed spirits...Fun  
as their little romp with the psychotic Herr Hitler had ended up being...The real purpose of their visit  
now loomed before them...

To see that poor Millie failed again...Put her out of the race...As permanently as possible...

In the least physically dangerous manner they could think of...

All for her sake...And brother Will's...of course...

Still, to have to hand the victory over to that fool Le Grand...Just to get him...Hopefully...Out of  
Millie's system and the Walthrops' hair once and for all...

Geesh...And both were having strong second thoughts about the likelihood of success in that area,  
given the failure of their past attempts to deter their Millie...Indeed, each check to her efforts seemed  
only to stimulate her to greater excesses...

But with old man Le Grand holding their past activities over their heads, there was little else to do...

***

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	5. Chapter 5

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XLII...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's another...

-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further

-Into the body of a young Physics student in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble dealing with Angel's counterpart...

-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of course...

Part XLII...

Given the Missus' aversion to early morning hours, Walthrop had decided to let her sleep in while he checked out the car and road conditions ahead...

Stopping at the inn's dining room for coffee, he received the startling news that the famed Belgorda Pass about twenty miles ahead had been sealed by avalanche...

News so troublesome that he paid scant heed to the innkeeper's cheery mention of the late night arrival of additional foreign visitors...

At that moment Miss DuBois was engaged in looking a rather downcast and exhausted Le Grand about three miles up the road to the pass...

In spite of her weariness...Well explained by her rising to join him as he had attempted to quietly leave the inn at five-thirty that morning...( Odd...And a bit...Disturbing...That even in a separate room, she'd heard his footsteps distinctively)...She realized she'd never seen him so utterly lost and uncertain...

So close to real despair...

So in need in comfort...As she patted his hand gently...My poor...She thought, considering a comforting kiss...

My poor?...Kiss?...Whoa!...She came out of her half-sleep with a start, causing him to look at her...

"Miss DuBois?..." he eyed her...

Just a bit tired...she smiled nervously...

Well...I just wanted to comfort him, that's all...And I was drifting off...That's all...

Ah...he sighed...Looking up the road where some rocks littered the way...Nothing compared to what he knew blocked the pass ahead...

It's over... he thought...Even if we could go around the pass safely...Which is nearly impossible in this terrain...In several days, likewise nearly impossible, more like several weeks...And even if the pass could be cleared in a few days...Which is probably impossible...Millie must be well along on her way to Vienna...Rome...And Paris...

"Well..." he smiled wanly at Miss DuBois...Kind of her to drag herself all this way so early after their rough trip last night...

Best we head back and sleep a bit more...See what can be done later...

"There's always something that can be done..." he noted firmly...But lacking something of that ole sparkle in his eyes...

I'm sorry...Angel...Miss DuBois looked at him...

But both their spirits received an immediate boost at the sight of the figure now hastening up the road from the inn...

One William Maximilian Walthrop, beloved husband of their competitor...

"Walthrop!..." Angel waved cheerily...Never had a man been such a welcome sight...

Unless of course Millie'd pushed on and left him behind after some new and ridiculous argument ...With them one never knew, Angel reflected...

"Mr. Walthrop!..." Miss DuBois called, in an equally pleased...And rather animated, Angel noted...voice...

"Seems we've all had a bit of bad luck!..."

Did she just squeeze my hand?...Angel wondered, feeling...

"Don't suppose this could be straightened out fairly quickly...?" Walthrop eyed the road to the pass...

Say like within the next two hours...Before poor Millie drags herself out of bed...he thought...

Not very likely, sir...If the reports of Mr. Le Grand and the others who've been up the way are correct...the town customs inspector...Chief representative of authority in the region...Just summoned up from the village to inspect the situation...noted...

"Last time we had one near as bad as this...Took six months to clear the pass..."

"It did look rather bad..." Angel noted... "And we were nearly caught by the initial avalanche..."

Oh...? Walthrop eyed him...Coolly...

"Yes...Very pleased to see your hand wasn't in this, old friend..." Le Grand glared back...

Mr. Le Grand...Miss DuBois hissed...

Crisis situation...Need for cooperation...Time and place...

"Did I mention how grateful I was to you and Ms. Walthrop for helping to rescue me in Romania...?" she beamed at Max...

Anytime...he briefly smiled at her...

"And just what was that remark supposed to mean, ole friend?..." he returned to Angel...

"Simply based on past experience, Walthrop..." Angel sniffed... "You and Millicent have never shown much in the way of scruples in trying to stop me..."

"Our scruples, you posturing twit?...Who's been hamstringing every one of Millie's...And she's Professor Fate-Walthrop to you...Efforts since he stole her doctoral thesis...?"

Miss DuBois blinked...Stole?...

Angel reddened...

"I did not steal her thesis!...You blew up the gasoline in Boracho, sabotaged our competitors, blocked the road in Canada...Kidnaped Madele...er Miss DuBois..."

"We didn't sabotage...all..our competitors...And we just didn't have time to offer Miss DuBois assistance formally..."

As for the rest, peanuts compared to what you did!...Max raged...

"Gentlemen..." Miss DuBois sighed...

All of this is pointless...In the past...Water under the bridge...Or ice floe if you like...

"We must focus on the problem at hand...How are we going to get around or through the pass...?"

"More immediate..." Max sighed...

Who'll tell Millie?...

"Be glad to..." Le Grand grinned...

Oh...? Walthrop...and Miss DuBois...Looked at him coldly...

"...Love...Changeless and Evergreen..." Buffy-Millie warbled...Rolling about her bed...Hugging herself...

Sweet William...to let her sleep in a bit...Though of course it could only be just this once...Race to finish after all...

Race to win...If their narrow lead held up...Especially after last night's early "rest stop"...

But a night like last night's was worth risking a narrow lead...she beamed at herself in the mirror over the dresser across from their bed...

Even the teeth didn't look so bad on a morning like this...

But, gee...He hadn't gone to breakfast yet, hadn't he?...She wanted to eat with him...Maybe in here...

Maybe...Eat him...she grinned at herself...Snarling...

Yeah...The Slayer is back...At least for one last time...All she needed, really...Just a chance to get it out of her system...

Good ole Dracula...The demon one, I mean...she thought...To go and threaten Humanity here...

And even better...To fail so miserably...At my hands...

With Max's indispensable help, of course...My courageous William...

Just like his counterpart...

Hmmn...she spied a small clock on the dresser...Still rather early...Well, up and dressed, Miss Fate...As my old matron at Princeton used to say...Might still catch him...Probably he's off to see about the road and if there's any news as to ole Angel...

Ole what's-his-name...

My sweet thoughtful Maxy out checking things for his honey...Hmmn...Another song from Buffy's future dimension if I can remember...

Yeah...

"Nobody does it...Better!..." Two inn guests heard her barely intelligible screech as they passed the door...Staring at the door...

Oh...Sometimes...This world has just gotta be...Heaven...she told herself as she hopped out of bed...

If only our babies...Lil' Buf and Will were here now...

Well...Maybe if they were here, but on another floor with Amelia and Phil at night...

"Well?...Convinced...?" Angel eyed Walthrop who sighed...

They all having accompanied the custom inspector back up the road as he made his survey of the damage...Being the local Austrian Imperial official responsible for road maintenance...

Being the only local Austrian Imperial official...

The road was unquestionably as bad if not worse than Le Grand and Miss DuBois had indicated...

Months to clear properly...The inspector pronounced judgment...

Weeks to clear even a small path through...

Even an skilled engineer like Walthrop could see no way around it...

Millie would have to be told...

"After the ball is over...La-dee-dah-dah-da-da..." Professor Fate had switched to more conventional music as she headed over to take a quick look at her Hannibal Super Twin8...Her spirits raised even higher by the innkeeper's hasty reply that no, Mr. Walthrop had not yet breakfasted...

He believed the gentleman had gone out to check on some news of trouble on the road ahead...

Oh?...she'd beamed at the man...Hastening out...

Well, can't be too serious on a beautiful day like today...she'd called back cheerily...Waving...

"Charming lady...In spite of the teeth..." a local patron noted to the innkeeper now taking his breakfast order...

My poor girl...Hezekiah stroked the Le Grand Special...Sadly feeling the several small dents in the engine cover and door panels...

"Alls I can say, dearie..." he sighed...but darkly glared as he continued...

"If the Perfesser had a hand in doing this to you..."

"Mr. Hezekiah?..." Buffy-Millie stopped in mid-step, as she passed, headed for the other side of the inn stables where her Hannibal sat ...A bit dumb-founded...

You...he stared at her...

Mentally reviewing the rather ample selection of firearms and knives lining his coat ...

"Well...I suppose if we can mutually agree upon a side route through the mountains...If one can be found..." Max noted to Angel and Miss DuBois as they strolled back up to the inn at Sesia...

No!...Came a shout from the stables...

"Millie!..." Walthrop cried, racing for the stable door...Le Grand and Miss DuBois following...

To find Buffy-Millie spread-eagled across her beloved Hannibal...Hezekiah, gun in one hand, large wrench in the other, confronting her...

"William!..." she screamed to him...

He's gonna destroy her!...

"Hezekiah?..." Angel called to him...

What's going on...?

"She set that avalanche, Boss...Nearly killed us and hurt the ole girl..." Hezekiah looked mournfully back to the Special...

And I'm gonna take it out its hide...Or hers...he grimly noted...

"Not a chance, friend!..." Max took position in front of the car...

So sweet a hubby I got...Buffy-Millie thought, beaming from her position on the hood of the Hannibal...

"Hezekiah!..." Miss DuBois called...

I'm sure Professor Fate wasn't involved here...She's blocked here too...

"So...?" Hezekiah frowned...

We'll just be even then...he advanced on Walthrop...

Buffy-Millie rolled to the side and jerked the car door open...

"Hezekiah!..." Angel frowned at him, coming over...

Cease and desist...We have larger problems to deal with right now...

"You bet you do, pal!..." Buffy-Millie hollered from the side of the Hannibal as the main cannon popped up...

"Gangway, Will!..." she called...Swinging the cannon to bear on Hezekiah...Whoa...He blinked...

Lethal lady with a 75mm howitzer...Mounted within a lovely antique brass cannon...

The Fate-Walthrop theme...Style and functionality...

Now...Millie...Max sighed...Looking back at her in the car...

Nobody spoils my good mood...she thought...Glaring at Hezekiah...

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XLIII...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's another...

-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further

-Into the body of a young Physics student in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble dealing with Angel's counterpart...

-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of course...

Part XLIII...

A stealthy shadow moved across the vast hall of the LeGrand Motor Works...Long past closing, guards having moved on after making their hourly tour...

Ace investigative reporter...Self-promoted...Warren Mears of the New York Sentinel newspaper, continuing his undercover mission to find the information that would expose the machinations of the LeGrand family and their associated companies once and for all...

Although key records had been obtained and passed on to his eagerly-waiting-if-difficult-to-satisfy employers Alex and Wilhemina "Willow" Harris...Indicating that the various LeGrand companies, including the new Motor Works, had profitably pilfered a number of inventions of one Professor Millicent Fate-Walthrop...There was still not the kind of evidence that would satisfy a court...Especially in a state where the judiciary was largely owned by one Hercule LeGrand, head of the LeGrand companies, and father of Angel LeGrand, the famed Technologic Pioneer and Great Racer...

More was needed...Alexander Harris, Owner, Publisher, and Editor-Emeritus of the Sentinel had noted at their last conference...And he reposed utter confidence in his newly appointed reporter's ability to get it...As did his wife, Acting Editor and Co-Owner Wilhelmina Harris...

Utter confidence...They had both sternly noted to Mears...Who'd gulped but promised to give it his...

All?...Who cared about his "all"?...This paper needs that evidence, man!...Alex had stated in tones allowing for no options but success...

Alex...Willow had nervously interjected...Alex being under doctor's orders to watch the old ticker and try to keep a somewhat more relaxed attitude...

Yes, yes...Well...Just see that your assignment is properly completed, Mears...he'd concluded...Mears nodding...

Properly completed...Willow, eyeing Mears, had supplied a last bit of cold sternness...

Yes, Ma'am...Sir...Mears had nodded...

And now was the time to live up to his pledge...

Besides he was lots more scared of that crazy Mrs. Harris than LeGrand and company...

In Bosnia, the pleasant reunion of the two remaining Great Racer teams had been somewhat marred by an altercation between Professor Fate-Walthrop and Angel's mechanic and thug-of-all-trades

Hezekiah...Who'd run into each other in the stable of the inn where both teams had found themselves forced to halt following the mysterious avalanche that had blocked the only passable road to Budapest...

And were now, despite the efforts of the newly-arrived remaining members of the respective teams...Angel LeGrand and New York Sentinel reporter Madeleine DuBois...And William Maximilian Walthrop, husband to the Professor...In danger of seriously escalating their disagreement into a high-powered shoot-out...With advantage to the Professor, courtesy her Hannibal Super Twin-8's high-powered medium cannon...

The Professor being in no mood, her delightful morning...Following a terrific previous evening with the hubby...Having been spoilt by the encounter...to consider a more sporting engagement...

She sat at the controls now, cannon carefully targeted on the current source of her wrath...

While to his credit, despite the rather hopeless odds, Hezekiah held his ground, brandishing his largest pistol...Mr. Walthrop sadly out of immediate harms...And hostage-taking way...

"Professor...!" Miss DuBois cried...

"Millie...Come on now..." William added his voice...

"Millicent...Now really..." Angel joined in...

At the use of her given name by her competitor, Buffy-Millie considering swivelling the cannon to retarget...Well, not yet, Mr. Hezekiah seeming a bit too well-armed to be left to his own devices...

Can always blast Angel's fool head off later...Hezekiah and his gun collection might possibly do some damage to the car...Or to dear Max, she eyed her beloved tenderly...

That much of her good mood was still intact at least...Walthrop catching and noting her quick loving glance with pleasure...Such a sweet, tall, blonde thing she was to worry about him so...

Ah, the upside of longtime love and marriage...He gave Angel a slightly superior look, seeing that LeGrand had caught Millie's look at him and seemed...Just a hair...Deflated...

Poor fellow...To have had a brief chance and managed to strike out with the one and only Buffy-Millie Fate...And, despite that almost cocoonlike ego protecting him, to clearly have begun to realize, at last, what he might have had...And lost...In 1897...William happily thought...The whole trip around the world now having been made for him in that one quick moment...

Yeah...

At least as far as this world's Angel was concerned...He had no doubts any longer...That one glance...And her frantic efforts to save him in Romania...Had settled that matter for good...

Still proprieties to be observed...The Race...And the reputation of the family at stake...Which a long prison term for Mother would do no good...

"Millie...It's all right...Hezekiah is not going to do anything to the car..." William gently told her...With a gleam in his eye thanking her for that glance...

"You bet he's not!..." she noted firmly...Glaring at her target...While at the same time catching that gleam from William...Oh...Maxy...I've done it at last...She calmed a little with inner contentment...

So...He knows I'd blow LeGrand's twerp's head off without a look back...At least as far as this Angel goes...We're ok...At last...

"Buffy..." he gently tried again, sensing her calming mood...Which to the others still seemed unabatedly threatening... "Please...It will be alright...And we have other things to worry about...Serious things..."

Buffy again...? Angel and Madeleine looked at the Professor who gave a very slight blush...

Max...she hissed...

Private names should remain...Private...her quick frowning look said...Heck, do I ever call you Spike in front of others?...Well, often?...she thought...Eyeing Miss DuBois...

Just that one time back home...And that was a very upsetting night...

"Must be a lovers' nickname..." Miss DuBois whispered to Angel...

Hmmn...What was that name she used for him?...Miss DuBois wondered...Back when I first met them in Indiana...Oh, right...

Spike...Spike...And Buffy...

Kinda sweet, really...Especially considering the Professor's usual grim front...

Oh?...Angel thought...Lover's nickname...Buffy...Hmmn...

Gee...She never asked me...the Angel LeGrand...To call her "Buffy" back in the old days at Princeton...he thought...Just a hair sadly...

But then that night we had our little "encounter" she and I were a bit too busy for much conversation...

Well, other matters pressing...

"Professor..." Angel resumed his efforts with an attempt at placating her...Miss DuBois stared at him...A bit...

He may be dense, but he does know her well...and how much that title means to her...

Damn...

"Please...This is all a minor misunderstanding..." Le Grand continues... "We face a serious situation which we must all work together to solve...It's no time for silly squabbling...Hezekiah, you too...This is no time for nonsense..."

Max likewise took the practical route in his next effort...

"Millie...We'll never finish the Race if you blow the man's head off..."

And the clincher...

"Think of the children, sweetheart..."

She glanced at him...Urggh...A deep glower back at Hezekiah...Still nervously holding his position in front of the Walthrops' beloved vehicle...

Well...she sighed internally...

He's got me there...The children...

God I wish lil' Will and Buf' were here...To see me blow this jerk's fool head off his shoulders...Then his employer's...

Well, maybe not...she sighed again...Externally now...

Max sensed the battle moving in his favor...

"Please, Mil...For me...And the children..."

Ummn...For Will...And the children...Damn...

Especially as Hezekiah must have been involved in Angel's sabotaging of my past efforts...she thought...Still glaring...At her best "Wild Witch of the West" intensity...

After all...Angel's not smart enough to have pulled those little schemes off on his lonesome...And he'd never have allowed himself to...Literally... Get his hands dirty, mucking around with my equipment...

"Tell him to back away...Slowly..." she called to Angel grimly...

Hezekiah...he called...

"You heard Millicent..."

"Professor Fate-Walthrop to you!..." she and Max simultaneously growled...

Gee...Miss DuBois thought involuntarily for just a horrifying half-second watching the Walthrops...

Must be nice to grow into each other like that...

Hezekiah reluctantly...But slowly, as ordered...Backed away...

Both he and the Professor now suddenly aware of what the others had been trying to say...

Serious what?...

"What's happened, honey?..." "What's up Boss?..." Buffy-Millie and Hezekiah asked their respective partners...

Well...Buffy-Millie sat with a grim frown on a folding chair brought up from their car by Max while she had inspected the blocked road for herself...

"It's blocked for sure..."

For both of us...Angel, now pleasantly engaged in pouring champagne from his apparently inexhaustible source, noted...The others having sat down to a picnic lunch while the Professor had made her loudly-insisted upon personal inspection with William in tow...

Just in case those idiots...Not including dear Max of course...Had got it utterly wrong and the road could be cleared with a few minor efforts...

"Well...We must now simply concentrate on finding a usable route around the pass..." Angel smiled at Miss DuBois...Madeleine...Who couldn't resist returning the smile...

So nice to see him back in form...Ridiculous as his never-failing optimism might be, it did have a certain charm, she had to admit...

Not that he'd lost it completely even back when they'd thought the Race hopelessly lost...But he had seemed a bit worn down...

And she was, in spite of herself...Beginning to find herself anxious not to see him worn down...

Hmmn...Buffy-Millie kicked at stones on the ground...Potentially weeks delay in this terrain...And mucho chances for the opposing side to pull ahead in those hills around us after we separate...

"What about driving to the coast?...Taking a ferry of some sort up to the first port with a decent...Safe (please) road to Budapest..." Miss DuBois suggested...

Only direct road to the coast was just past that pass...Buffy-Millie frowned, pointing up the road...

"Well...We're all in the same boat...We'll think of something..." Max noted, coming over to her... "Here..." he passed her a sandwich and champagne...

Hmmn...She sighed, taking her lunch...Thanks...And setting it down on the ground, startled the others by pulling him into her lap and kissing him...

"Thanks, baby..." she hugged him... "But you haven't eaten yet...Sit down and lemme get you something, Will..." she insisted...

"Is there any ham...? Max prefers ham...What?..." She eyed a staring Miss DuBois as she came over to the blanket where the others sat...

"You saw us in down mode in Siberia..." she explained...A slight wave of the hand...

Down mode?...Angel and Miss DuBois looked at each other...

"Down mode..." William agreed from where he sat in his folding chair...

"But we be in...Up mode now..." Buffy-Millie beamed at her Max...Bringing over sandwich and champagne...

Up mode...Definitely...Will nodded over to them...

It was a definite look of...Something she cared not to see...That Miss DuBois suddenly caught in Angel's face as he stared at the Walthrops, particularly Buffy-Millie's happily beaming face as she spread her coat, sat, and rested her head against Will's chair, between his legs...Utterly content as she closed her eyes, in spite of the potentially disastrous turn of events...

Shhh...Genius pondering, Will gently grinned at the others, finger to his lips...Other hand stroking her beautiful hair...

Angel silently staring on at them...Madeleine at him...

Even Hezekiah, watching his teammates, felt a vague sympathy for both...Though also some annoyance...At the Boss...Who had chosen a fine time to start regretting missed chances...

Sometimes...The Boss just had no brains...To hurt the poor lady so...He glanced at poor Miss DuBois...Who was now doing her best to avoid noticing Angel's long stare at his quietly happy competitors...

A lady such as one didn't encounter very often...Whatever Mr. Hercule might have to say regards her...

As the Great Racers re-entered their inn...A temporary truce in effect while they considered their options, the innkeeper greeting them, indicated a heavy-set, walrus-mustached gentleman sitting at table...

"Mr. Chadwick...?" he called... "Your people have returned..."

The heavy-set man beamed...Angel and the others stared at him as he rose, bowing to the ladies...

"Mr LeGrand...?" he put out a large hand...

Chadwick, Eugene Chadwick...Of the European Division of LeGrand Machinery Works, Inc...he smiled...

"My card..." he presented a white card...

"My father sent you...?" Angel stared...

"He'd alerted me to the possibility of your being in the area..." Chadwick noted...

Hezekiah eyed him...Hmmn...One of our European boys, eh?...I think I can guess how the pass up ahead got blocked...

"But it was mainly happy coincidence that I was in the region on an inspection tour..." Chadwick continued, all congeniality...

Uh-huh...Buffy-Millie sourly noted...

Yeah...

"I'm sorry..." Chadwick looked at her... "I've not had the pleasure..."

Professor Millicent Fate-Walthrop...she replied...

"My husband William..." she waved to Max...Who nodded...

Ah...

"So all of you were trapped here by the avalanche...?" Chadwick nodded thoughtfully...

Yeah...All of us...Buffy-Millie frowned...

"You too..." she noted... "Unless you got some easy way out...Say maybe...Had one already standing by?..."

Professor...Miss DuBois frowned back...

"Does seem a little...Interesting...That you're here...Now...Friend..." Walthrop stared at Chadwick...

"Surveying the country roundabouts...For possible roadways..." he smiled...

We expect the automobile to become a major force for change in Europe...Even in remote locales like this...And LeGrand Motors wants to promote road expansion...

Good for business...he concluded...

"So is...Winning this Race..." Buffy-Millie grimly smiled at him...

Excuse me...? he smiled back pleasantly...

"We are both trapped here, Professor..." Angel noted, a bit peeved...

She gave him a withering gaze, teeth prominent...He glared back...

One time...One time I behave...Well, a tad less than gentlemanly...And she's determined to make me the fount of all things evil forever more...he groused within...

It's not like I ever divulged our little mutual secret...Except almost that one time back in Morovia...But even then I didn't, even though that annoying little husband of hers had given me ample cause...

Miss DuBois staring at him...

Why is he so?...Bothered by her attitude...It's almost as if he were...Hurt...

No...

It couldn't be...He couldn't...Be...

But...He just started calling me...Madeleine...

I mean...Look at those teeth...

"Mil..." Walthrop patted her... "Lets hear the fellow out..." he smiled somewhat more pleasantly at Chadwick...

We can always konk him one later, if he turns out to be an annoyance...he hissed in her ear...Kissing her quickly to cover...

Ok...she shrugged...

Well?...she looked at the still-beaming Englishman...

"Well...In point of fact, I may actually be able to help you..."

Really?...she dryly noted...But wrapped Walthrop's arm around her and presenting an attentive expression, took a chair with the others at the Englishman's table...

Angel frowning at her slightly...As Miss DuBois did at him...

He's hurt...Cause she thinks badly of him...she thought...

All this time...I thought it was her, mooning after him...It never even occurred to me...

Not with those teeth...

But...When she's with Walthrop and happy...With that hair and those eyes...Even the teeth fade out when she smiles...

And she's so brilliant...And he somehow manages to appreciate a fine mind...Maybe sensing his own deficiencies in that regard...

Oh, God...

And he just started calling me Madeleine...

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XLIV...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's another...

-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further

-Into the body of a young Physics student in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble dealing with Angel's counterpart...

-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of course...

Part XLIV...

Eugene Chadwick, sinister agent of Le Grand Motor Works and Le Grand Machinery, Inc...European Division...offers his "help" to the stranded Great Racer teams...Their one road out of Bosnia blocked by the machinations of the Serb revolutionary agents in his employ...

Well, the offer of help being sincere in regards to young Le Grand at least...

He eyes the rival leaders across the table of the little inn where they have taken shelter in hopes of devising a solution to their joint problem...

Young Angel Le Grand, wavy-haired, dashing hero of the new age of Technological Advancement, suit and teeth as white as ever, a contented and optimistic expression on the features which have won the hearts of females (and not a few males) the world round...Eager to resume his natural upbeat outlook on the basis of Chadwick's so-far vague promise of assistance...

So good of Father to have ordered our people to keep an eye out...Not that any interference should be tolerated...But surely assistance offered in equal measure to both teams to allow the Race to continue should be taken for the good fortune it was...

And Professor Millicent Fate-Walthrop... "Buffy" to her beloved husband William Maximilian "Max" Walthrop and her interdimensional advisor, the doctor-god and brother/counterpart of Glory, Benedictus only...Tall, blonde, buck-toothed...With a slight, unjustified hang-up regarding her looks...Dressed in her usual practical black...Grimly giving a narrow and guarded scrutiny of this walrus-mustached, heavy-set Englishman with his oleaginous smile...Who'd appeared so opportunely at a rather interesting moment...Just after the only pass had been blocked by "accidental" avalanche...

Coincidence?...Uh-huh...

And their respective team members...Sitting beside Angel, the tall, ever forthright, and radiantly lovely Madeleine DuBois...First Black female reporter for the New York Sentinel...Her deep brown eyes also scanning this rather too conveniently appearing fellow...Instinctively sensing a shiftiness in his manner...

Bears watching, this fellow...And he seems to be going out of his way to avoid noticing the nonwhite member of the LeGrand team...

Ummn...Well, not member...Of course...Just an impartial observer...Utterly objective...

Standing by as well...Likewise watching carefully, but with little doubt as to Chadwick's true mission...Angel's mechanic, right-hand, and parentally-appointed nursemaid/thug of all trades, Hezekiah...Bald, well-muscled, ruthless...But utterly devoted to his sometimes clueless young employer...And becoming rather attached, in spite of his resentment and fear of her influence, in his rough, but brotherly manner to the Miss DuBois...A lady such as rarely seen...In his reluctantly-given, hard-earned opinion...

Lucky ya didn't get us killed, yer little...And if you fumble this one...I and my favorite Bowie may get intimately acquainted with yer innards...

And beside the frowning Professor...Her own William Maximilian...Slight, blonde, loving, and indomitable...A worthy counterpart of the William Soames Walthrop who'd fought his arduous way back to Humanity in her counterpart Buffy Summers' world...Even if he did only come up to her shoulder...He too eyeing the agent of Le Grand, Inc with suspicion, though perhaps a little less grimly...

Coincidence that a Le Grand employee should pop now?...Yeah, right...Still, Mil' should be a little less obvious...Give the fellow enough rope to hang himself while we watch...

Hmmn...he gave a quick side glance at Angel...The usual dim-witted, "go Princeton" positivism...

No wonder he was captain of the Princeton cheerleaders back in our college days...

Does seem like he has no clue as to any intent on Chadwick's part...Possible he doesn't know, if there is a scheme on...? Could he really be that...? Max eyes that beaming face...

Oh, yeah...

Still he did steal Mil' thesis...And he's at least benefitted from someone messing with my girl's past efforts...Very likely "doesn't want to know..." is the principle at work between him and his boys...

Ah, ha...At the Le Grand Motor Works offices, Warren stared at the files the lock of which he'd just skillfully forced...

Nuthin...Routine files on parts shipments, payments to suppliers...A file on labor unrest at the company, complete with a letter from rival manufacturer Henry Ford suggesting the pooling of resources to terrorize and eliminate troublesome "agitators" among the workers...

Not a thing useful...He sighed...

"Hey!..." A light shined in his face...And the lights went out...For him at least as the guard who'd caught him slammed his billy club on his neck...

In their hotel room in Vienna...Amelia and Phil Walthrop, William's younger brother and sister, debated their course of action...

To accept Hercule LeGrand's orders to stand ready to prevent their sister-in-law from achieving victory...Or face having him expose them as his chief agents in hamstringing her past efforts...

Albeit with the best intentions...

Mil' had to get over this nonsense with Angel Le Grand...It was ruining her chances for doing the great work she was clearly meant to do...And hurting brother Will...

But, contrary to their hopes...And Mr. Le Grand's continual assurances...Each setback had only strengthened her desire to wipe that smirk off Angel's handsome face once and for all...And prove that she, Millie Fate-Walthrop was in every way, more than his match...

And now, with a long list of rather nefarious, if always well-meant...And carefully planned as to leave Millie and Will a margin of safety for escape...deeds of sabotage behind them...The diabolical Hercule had them over a barrel...

The thought that Millie and Will might learn what they'd done...And hate them for it...Intolerable...

The thought that they might snatch her greatest potential triumph away from her...One that might be of real practical benefit to the Fate-Walthrop Company, the family business...Equally intolerable...

Phil took the case for abandoning the effort...He'd had enough...To do more, and wreck her chances of winning this damned race would hurt Mil' more than he could bear...

"They'd throw us out, Melia...And I wouldn't blame 'em..." he noted...

"They wouldn't throw us out Phil..." Amelia shook her head...

"No...Guess not..." he sighed, conceding the point... "But she'd never trust us again...And it would never be the same..."

And his chief argument...

"She might blame Will..."

It was true, 'Melia knew...She might choose to believe...With a little help from Hercule Le Grand...That brother Will had been behind their efforts...Trying to keep her away from Angel...And with him...At home...

As he'd shot off his biggest debating gun, she jumped ahead to her strongest argument...

"But if Mr. Le Grand lets her know about us...She'll believe it was Will in that case, too..."

An impasse...They stared at each other...

A knock at the door...Telegram...

"The Belgorda Pass blocked by avalanche...Stop...Are trying to find new route...Stop...All well...All our love...Stop...Behave selves in Vienna...Stop...Will and Mil..." Amelia read...

Phil quickly pulled up a map... "There..." he pointed... "It's the only road...They might be stuck until the race has to be called off..."

Hmmn...Amelia stared at the map...

She eyed Phil who eyed her...Phew...Maybe the debate's outcome could be deferred a few days at that...

Yet More (Semi)Parallel Lives... "Great Race 1906"...Part XLV...

PG13

A BR verse, Semi-P tale...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

In (semi)Parallel Lives, Buffy had a slight accident while making the neural recording that restored Buffy Rebecca, her robotic sister...And found herself in an alternate existence...

But, just as BR herself came out of the infinite potential universe of Buffies...So Buffy's mind that night wandered through a number of alternate existences...Here's another...

-The night of BR's restoration, Buffy's wandering mind travels ever further

-Into the body of a young Physics student in 1906...Who has a leetle trouble dealing with Angel's counterpart...

-Another tribute to Jack Lemmon, of course...

Part XLV...

In the LeGrand Motor Works main office a dazed Warren came to, to find himself securely bound to a chair...Water all over his face and upper body, from a pitcher now on the table by the desk...Tossed at him by the tough, scar-face man facing him he recognized as one of the chief security men...A former Pinkerton man well-schooled in dealing with "troublesome" labor agitators...Hired by Hercule LeGrand for his expertise in such work...

"Wake up!...Bastard!...What the hell were you doing in this office at this hour?...Speak up!..."

Unnnh...Warren gave an understandable but unsatisfactory answer...

Requiring a savage response, given in the form of a hard blow to the side of his face...

"Talk...!...You're working for someone!...Who is it?..."

Chadwick's proffered solution was a relatively simple one...Two miles back down the road was a ferryboat landing across the River

All they need do was to secure a barge large enough to handle the cars, float downstream, and resume ground after about fifty or miles where there were reasonably passable trails back to the unblocked section of the main road...

The only fly in the ointment being...No gasoline on said trails...Which would likely run nearly a hundred miles before hitting the main road again...

The fuel efficient Hannibal might make it...Buffy-Millie noted proudly...But the Angel Special would not...

Max pointed out there would be at least another hundred mile of driving on the main road after regaining to reach the next gas stop...Which LeGrand confirmed with a quick check of the map he'd spread out on the floor by their table...

Neither car would make it on their remaining gas...And not much likelihood of finding a rapid communication system on the glorified goat-trails they'd be following much of the way so as to have the gas brought to them...

Long out of carrier pigeons, Miss DuBois sighed at LeGrand...What to do...?

"We could try sending a rider by horse but they'd have a devil of a time getting through unless they'd floated down past the pass and mountains as well..." Chadwick twisted at his mustache...

Hmmn...Buffy-Millie pondered...

"How many miles to the depot...Straight, I mean...As the crow flies...?"

"About a hundred, I believe..." Chadwick eyed her... "If it were possible to go straight, over the pass, the mountains here, and the river...

Millie?...William looked at her...Wheels definitely turning...Oh-oh...Oh...oh...

Millie...he eyed her...She smiled back...Guess what I got in mind...Hee...

"Yes..." Angel nodded... "I believe the river offers our best chance...We will simply have to see if we can arrange for contact to be made with the gas depot and have it shipped up to us where we leave our barge..."

"That could take days...A few weeks even.." Buffy-Millie noted... "If they can even get it to us on the trails..."

"If the cars could make it to Strena...Here..." she pointed...

"It's off the track to the main road by at least forty miles..." Angel eyed the map...

"But...It looks like it has some communication with the outside world..." she tapped her teeth with a finger...An arch look to Max who knew what was up...

God...I hoping we'd never try this one...he sighed to himself...Still...If Mil' did it...My Buffy-Mil'...I'll stake my life on it every time...

"Yes...If the cars can reach it, there is a road of sorts there..." Chadwick nodded...Eyeing her...Hmm?...What is the fool woman suggesting?...

And can it be turned to serve my purpose in being here?...Eliminating her...

"Millie..." William sighed...Guessing at what was coming...

"It'll only be a hundred miles, hon'...And a grand scenic view..." she grinned...C'mon, babe...Show a little of that Max and Mil' team spirit...her quick look said...

"Great..." he replied dryly... "Perfect way to test your heliocopter...Over the roughest terrain in Southern Europe..."

Whaat?...Angel, Miss DuBois, and Hezekiah stared...Hmmn...Chadwick pondered...

Ex...Actly...she put her tongue on the side of her upper lip with a wink... "A great trial run..."

If nobody...For once...Screws it on us...she gave Angel a slight frown...

Screws...? Angel blinked...Hmmn...

"Wouldn't you want your device properly screwed together...?" he asked innocently...Chadwick looking a bit puzzled as well...

Miss DuBois glaring a bit at the Professor...Her past career experiences having exposed her at times to the sort of uncouth types where such terms were employed...

Hezekiah equally experienced in his own past likewise glaring...Though not above wondering if perhaps...He gave Chadwick a careful look...

Whatever this fellow agent of Le Grand's was up to, he'd best get it straight between them at the first opportunity that obtaining the gasoline was the element of prime importance...And that the Boss was not to be exposed to any potential scandal...

"Mil..." William gave a reproving frown...It's just cruel to insult our poor Angel when he's utterly clueless...his slight smile noted...

Whatever...Buffy-Millie waved a hand...Anyhow...

"It's little extra something tucked away in my Hannibal..." she beamed benevolently at her opponents...

A new sort of flying machine...Vertically lifting...Using a rotation blade for the lift wing and another for balance...

The rest of the group about the table stared at her...Excepting William who gave a reluctant grin back...That's my genius girl there...

"It's in pieces but it could be assembled in a few hours...Some of us could take the cars downstream and then overland to Strena...While I..."

"And me..." William eyed her...She frowned back...Anyway...

"Fly over to the depot and have the gas sent back to Strena...Easy as pie..."

Easy as a fork in pie crust...Chadwick thought, picturing...A flying machine?...In those mountains...?...If they didn't crash outright, they'd be sure to die of thirst and starvation...Especially if my friend Princep and his men can get a crack at them and their ...what was it?...Heliocopter...?

"A capital idea, Professor..." he beamed... "Sure to save you both many days..."

"Sounds a bit insane..." Miss DuBois shook her head... "A flying machine?...In these mountains...?"

"Heliocopter..." Buffy-Millie said firmly... "It's not an airplane...It rises vertically and then flies...More or less...wherever you wish..."

I hope...she did not say...

If you got the bugs out...Max did not say, supportively...But eyeing her sternly...

Angel nodded thoughtfully...An interesting little proposal...And if he knew Millie Fate..."Sounds like a remarkable machine...But surely it would be best if I and perhaps Walthrop..."

She grimaced...As did Miss DuBois, slightly...

"Like hell are you using my heliocopter...You're lucky if I trust you with my car on the barge...But if Max is there to watch over it..."

Oh, really...? William stared at her...If I'm left behind safe with the car, eh...?...Like hell...he thought...

Millie and her language...Angel sighed to himself...I never will get used to it...

Must be rather...Entertaining...At times...he eyed Walthrop, a slight something...Wistful...in that look...Miss DuBois catching it even as he turned away...

I never realized...she sadly thought to herself...It never even occurred to me...

"Well..." LeGrand smiled slowly at his rival... "Perhaps the two of us..."

Hezekiah stared...Miss DuBois stared...

Boss...?

Mr. LeGrand...?

"Us...?" Buffy-Millie stared...Hmmn...

On the one hand...I might get him to finally come clean about my thesis when we're alone...Not to mention show off my latest...

On the other hand...Max would probably let me do it just to prove he believes there's nothing left between pretty boy here and me...And have a coronary from worry while waiting...

And I have put my boy through a lot on this trip...

Not to mention...Angel and I are the biggest people here excepting this Chadwick character...The two of us together might be a bit much in this kind of terrain...

Hmmn...He hasn't put on much weight since Princeton...she stared at LeGrand appraisingly...Held up...Rather...

Whoops...That's as far as I ever intend to go down that road...Again...she thought...

Hmmn...

"I can do it alone...Probably best to keep the weight down..." she hastily replied...Put on her most determined glare...The ole' bucks prominent...Her black dress grimy...Hair a rat's nest...

Never a woman more beautiful...Even the slimy Chadwick, staring...

Like he'd ever really let me go alone...she looked at William...

My partner...My never weary audience of one...My devoted Spikish minstrel singing to me forever that he cannot, will not live without me...

And one might consider whether the William of that world would accept this chin and these teeth...

The one guy worth dying for...But oh, so much better to live for...

She never looks...Lovelier...Than when she takes on the world...Angel silently nodded at her as she stood glaring, arms folded...Teeth, chin, and all...

And it could have been me...Oh...Millie...

"We'll go together or nobody's going and we do it the sane and safe way...By slow barge only..." Max stared at his Professor...Arms folded...

"We can't leave my Han..." she began, solemnly... "Together...Or nobody goes..." he glared, cutting her off...

"I know your 'copter can do it, Mil...So we both go..." he repeated... "Miss DuBois can certify that the cars are kept inviolate..."

Ok...she smiled...

Never good to break up a crack team...she noted to the others...

Absolutely...William nodded...

Even if there's no staking to be done...

The Sweetheart Tree

From "The Great Race"

Music by Henry Mancini, Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Play

"They say there's a tree in the forest,

A tree that will give you a sign;

Come along with me, to the Sweetheart Tree,

Come and carve your name next to mine.

They say if you kiss the right sweetheart,

The one you've been waiting for,

Big blossoms of white will burst into sight

And your love will be true evermore."

"Where the devil did you get that song from?..." Angel eyed Buffy-Millie as she sang it gently to Max under the tree where they labored with Hezekiah and LeGrand to get her remarkable heliocopter into working order...Her phonograph playing from the Hannibal...Her own composition and recording, Max noted proudly to Miss DuBois...

"Well...Not exactly mine..." Buffy-Millie grinned sheepishly...Nudging Max...

"But lets just say it's a love song I picked up in a dream a while from now..." she beamed...Hugging Max now...

"Hey, lass...Delicate instruments on which our lives may depend here...!" he carefully balanced a gear assembly in his hand as she pulled him round...Sorry...She let go...

"Didn't say you had to leggo..." he grinned, kissing her as he set the assembly down gently...

"It's lovely, Professor..." Miss DuBois smiled at her, just a bit sadly...

Just lovely...she looked at LeGrand who was still staring at the beaming Millie as she rocked William in her arms, repeating the song...A solemn, rather wan expression on his face...

Hezekiah frowning a moment as he and Chadwick looked over...Sometimes the Boss is just a foolish kid...He looked at Miss DuBois...Giving her a warm, if gruff little smile...

A foolish, foolish kid...

Go Back


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